


Can't Take The Sky From Me

by Billywick



Series: Young Avengers Roleplay Fiction [2]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-20
Updated: 2013-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 22:24:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 123,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/728565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Billywick/pseuds/Billywick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Tommy encounters Noh-Varr prior to the events of the Civil War YA/Runaways crossover. The reunion during said crossover is anything but happy, but something connects the two irrevocably. Speed ends up with a 'pet' alien that appears to be more trouble than it's worth. Things take some very unexpected turns as Tommy struggles to rehabilitate the tortured Kree who is about as enthusiastic about humanity as a cat is about water. Rated M for, well, sex, violence, language and themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm going to be posting a couple of rps because I think that as long as you don't mind the slightly disjointed style of writing, you'll enjoy these AU's as much as I have been.
> 
> Again, did not write this by myself! Disjointed, switching pov style, you have been warned.

Earth is a hideous, horrendous little world. A ball of dirt crawling with an infestation called humanity.

He’d never attributed strong dislike, let alone hate, to anything. Thousands of visited worlds, hundreds of dimensions, millions of species in the universes he was familiar with, and not one of them triggered the intense hatred he felt right now and any time he glanced at the dark, thick walls of his prison.

_Humans._

A species that barely made it out of their creational soup, apes descended from their trees and yet, they played at being gods. Brushed aside all notion of the sanctity of peace, of hospitality, of civil behaviour. It took just one disgusting human to decide the death of the people he’d considered his friends, his family, one of them his love. It took just one human to decide to throw him into this rotting hellhole for not accepting the hand fate had dealt him in form of being stuck in this dimension, on this little mudball.

Noh-Varr, former diplomat in training, a being created and trained for peacekeeping, had never felt stronger in favour towards war and total terraformation. And if he ever broke through the restraints they’d inflicted upon him, he’d show this world the Kree’s capability for war.

****

It wasn’t the first time Tommy had been captured, though he could say (and he had plenty to say on the matter) that it was the first time he’d been snatched up so unceremoniously, and far quicker than he had anticipated. That was saying plenty, all of which were bad things that continued to ferment in Tommy’s mind and gut as he was lugged through his new habitat.

Well, at least the rooms weren’t as white as in juvie.

He might have remarked on that had they not sealed his mouth shut. Nothing he couldn’t remove himself, but after a few clocks to his head, among other things, he decided to humor his captors. They had the foresight to bind not only his wrists but his ankles, all three of the brutes dragging him so as not to let him touch anything, as if Tommy could just touch something and make it spontaneously combust.

Tommy was anything but docile, despite what they thought of his lack of struggling. Granted, he was bone-weary and eager to get some shuteye, but his mind was, as usual, on constant alert, soaking in every detail faster than they could compute it. By the time he was heaved to a massive sliding door, Tommy already brewed up more than one plan to make their lives miserable in the process of his escape.

And escape he planned, shouldering no burden of it on his teammates, wherever the hell they were now. The witch would be groaning and rolling his eyes though the moment he knew Tommy was caught. Unless he got caught too.

Tommy shelved those thoughts, heart clamoring though he tried to will it to calm down. He’d never acknowledge how any inkling of a prison ruffled him up inside, turned him inside out, yet his heart never listened.

****

“Toss him in,” a nasty voice said behind him, and Tommy was propelled forward.

****

A quick reflex was all that spared his face from smashing into the cold floor, and he had enough sense to shoot his captors a look before the door was sealed again. Their footsteps echoed beyond the door, leaving him to the darkness of what was an impressively grungy room.

Once their footsteps were out of earshot, the pain vibrated through Tommy, reminding him he had received more damage than he would ever let on. Grunting, he wiggled onto his backside and managed to lean against an equally cold wall, sucking in a deep breath through his nose to ride out the discomfort.

Before he had the luxury to exhale out his irritation, Tommy’s hackles rose, eyes sharpening. Someone was in the room with him. There. Corner where it was darkest. Tommy squinted, barely made much out besides a bulk of a shape, and in the seconds it took to determine that, he relaxed just enough to lean back against the wall.

It took a moment for him to work the wrapping around his mouth loose and he gulped in some air. “Hey,” he said, disliking how much it came out like a croak, “hey, you. You alive?”

****

This was new. He’d been confined alone, ever since the humans had gotten their grubby little claws on him, caught broken and wounded after the crash to Earth. Of course he knew that such a barbaric race would imprison their own kind, but he’d never seen another prisoner in all his time here. And he’d been in this box of a room for a very, very long duration.

He kept to the corner as his new...roomate was hauled in, thrown to the floor like some sort of waste unworthy of respect. Figures humans didn’t even respect their own.

Noh-Varr stayed in the darkest corner, quite capable of seeing very clearly even in the dim, depressing lighting they’d allowed him to have. He was young, whoever he was. The human, Noh could smell he was human, shifted himself, clumsily with the weight of his restraints on him, to sit up.

****

And then he spotted him. The Kree tensed, he had no idea what this human creature was capable of or in what sort of primitive state of mind he was in. Noh may be imprisoned, but he was not about to be caught unaware.

****

The human spoke. English, of course. The words and sounds of the language were familiar to him, ran through his mind as smoothly as any other speech he’d learned in his training with alien species, but it still took some measured thought to form them with his own mouth.

****

“I am alive. What are you?”

****

No, that wasn’t quite right, he intended to question the reason for this young male being here, not what his species was.

****

“In here?”

****

Alive, well, Tommy couldn’t decide yet if that was good news or bad. If he’d been dead, Tommy might have had to brace himself for similar treatment, and if alive, he’d have to concern himself with a living, breathing creature that might as well have been stuck here to rip Tommy to shreds.

****

Tommy flexed his fingers as much as he could, testing their ability as he considered his answer.

****

“Guess they just don’t like me,” he replied, wincing around his cramped hands.

****

He scanned the room again, finding little to go on, then leaned forward a tad as if with enough will he could brush the shadows aside see who skulked underneath.

****

“You human, or what? What’s your deal?”

****

All Tommy could deduce was that the fellow was male, and his voice was smooth, much smoother than anyone’s voice Tommy had heard. There hadn’t been underlying menace that he could pinpoint just yet, but Tommy didn’t feel any more comfortable with that tidbit of knowledge.

****

And maybe a muted piece of himself needed the conversation to go on, not just for information, but because Tommy had had enough of being squished by silence, the eerie kind that four walls knew too well how to inflict on someone.

****

This human was obviously no stranger to confinement, because he didn’t seem particularly phased by being bound and thrown into a tiny room with a strange man sitting in the dark. He seemed insistent on verbal communication, despite being barely able to see his conversational partner. Noh knew human eyesight wasn’t all that great, especially without a large source of light.

****

He gave a dismissive, disgusted snort at the suggestion. Him, human? He might bypass his physiology and throw up at the notion.

****

“No. I am Kree.”

****

Which was a bittersweet statement in itself. Yes, he was part of an advanced, superior race and yet, here he was, captured by creatures far beneath him. To feel both shame and pride was very conflicting and bizarre to him.

****

“Noh-Varr. I am Noh-Varr.”

****

“Noh-Varr,” Tommy said as a means to test the name.

****

A Kree. That was both curious and unsettling. How had they gotten a Kree bound and chucked into a prison cell, and what the hell kind of death were they pursuing to keep him around? Tommy knew enough about Kree that should have made him feel uneasy, but then again, swatting aside unease was a perpetual notion he’d gotten accustomed to.

****

“That’s certainly reassuring that you’re still locked up here,” Tommy said, more as a mutter to himself.

****

He sighed as if he had no care in the world, mentally building up barriers as memories tried reaching their long fingers into the crooks and crannies of them.

****

“So, what,” he pressed on, surveying himself, “they just keeping you as a pet then here? I’m not one for submission myself.” As an afterthought he added, “I’m Speed.”

****

His examination proved his lack of concerns wrong. Uniform yawning with tears and holes, Tommy could feel more than see rivulets of blood caking his skin. Nothing too serious from what he could gauge, but they all hurt like a bitch and were making even his attempt to just sit a task.

****

Noh-Varr didn’t feel obligated nor inclined to answer any more questions, this could easily be a ruse to attempt a gathering of information. Make him feel acclimated to having human company and reveal secrets about his advanced species. An oddly subtle tactic for humans, but he commended their dedication, he almost bought the genuine weakness and exhaustion in ‘Speed’.

****

“I am not submitting. That is why you keep me in this,” he gave a disdainful little nod towards the heavy, metal collar around his neck, the one that suppressed more of his abilities than he could ever muster to break out.

****

“I don’t keep you in anything,” Tommy replied, if a little frustrated.

****

Ignoring the protests of his muscles, Tommy scooted forward enough to spot what ‘this’ meant. Tommy had to whistle at the sight of the collar, a thick monstrosity that must have been keeping the Kree from doing all sorts of things.

****

“Got you good,” he said, pressing deeper into the darkness.

****

He barely made out any details, but he had enough to go on. Noh-Varr was a big guy, no surprise there, and just the bumps of his muscle, so unlike the lean ones of Tommy, promised the kind of power a Kree was capable of.

  
The fact that this fellow had been a prisoner here for who knew how long had Tommy sink back against the wall, then stretch out onto his side as exhaustion burrowed into his bones. He was processing the information, making it tumble in his head again and again, for fear of passing out and not being aware when they came to do...well, Tommy didn’t ponder much on that.

****

“Hey,” he called out into the silence again, pretending he didn’t hear how raspy his voice was beginning to sound. “You know if they’re gonna show up anytime soon? You know, to have a chat or some fun with us.”

****

Speed had inspected and commented on the collar as if it was entirely new to him. Noh-Varr watched him, partly because it always paid off to be cautious and also because he hadn’t seen anyone besides the heavily armed and armoured guards that fetched him for...whatever they needed to do to him according to their hostile alien lifeform protocol.

****

The human wasn’t in the best of shapes and his injuries were definitely real, by now, Noh could smell the drying, cloyingly sweet smell of blood, so very different from his own. The apparent fragility of his fellow inmate put him slightly at ease. No matter what his abilities, they’d be suppressed in here and he was no match in a contest of physical strength, surely.

****

So there was no harm in humouring him with a little conversation in the foreign, clumsy language they called their own.

****

“I assume you mean...guards. Or scientists. Both come and go, no regular intervals, always unconscious when they come for experiments and samples,” he was angry, beyond angry, so far gone his rage had cooled into this small, scalding, glowing, sharp core inside of him, gathering strength, information, anything useful and storing it, biding his time as his captors continued to live in the absolute belief they had full control over him.

****

“Gas. They pump this room full of gas to make me unconscious.”

****

Gas? Shit. Tommy rolled carefully onto his back and met more darkness, the kind that was luring him into it where he could sleep for a long, long time.

****

“Great,” he murmured, letting his eyes shut and regretting it the moment he did it.

****

Pain radiated through him, awakened by his lax state, and Tommy hissed, forcing his eyes to open again. There was no guarantee he’d heal quick enough to squirm out of his bonds, and if they snatched him out for whatever the reason, he might be in limbo, waiting to heal to escape, only to be dragged out again before that could happen.

****

Memories rattled in their cages. A white room. Experiments. So many needles.

****

Tommy clenched his jaw and turned again on his side, facing his roommate.

****

“How’d they catch you anyway?”

****

He was going to be throwing his caution to the wind, wasn’t he? Then again, as long as he didn’t share out any actual specific information, the human would gain nothing and he’d have an actual conversation instead of interrogations which made for a nice change.

****

“Shot my ship down. Killed my crew and stripped the wreckage. I don’t know how long I have been in here.”

****

Tommy couldn’t see any facial reaction. The voice though, he knew that stiff, matter-of-fact tone too well. It was a calm born from rage and hatred, packed and prepared so it would fuel future vengeance.

****

Before Tommy noticed himself doing it, he said, “Sorry.” It came out so lowly he wasn’t sure he’d even said it.

****

He faced the ceiling again, keeping Noh-Var’s form hovering in his peripheral vision. “I don’t like the stuff I saw on my way here. They experiment on you, don’t they?”

****

The apology threw him. No human had ever apologized for the collective cruelty of their race and he especially didn’t expect it from someone who looked to be in the same situation of imprisonment and experimentation as himself. Noh kept his gaze steadily on Speed, watched every movement he made, every breath that seemed laboured.

****

“They do. I am...not an average Kree. I am not from this dimension. And they seem fascinated by me,” he paused, not sure if he should deepen this conversation, but it felt...pleasant, or at least, distracting, to exchange words with a stranger who wasn’t demanding to know how he ‘worked’ and such, “why would they experiment on you? Are you...an enemy of...humans?”

****

Laughter always seemed to find its way out of Tommy, and this one bounced off the walls as Tommy replayed the question in his mind. He couldn’t help himself, even if it aggravated his spent body.

****

“An enemy of humans?” he repeated, exhaling as the laugh subsided, leaving him with more aches than before. “I think a lot of them might say so. But,” he shrugged a shoulder, “in the eyes of these jerks, I’m part of the good guys. I’m with a group. Young Avengers.”

****

Saying it uncoiled something in Tommy’s core he hadn’t known been there. A heartbeat was all it took for images of his team to rush forward, and just as quickly for Tommy to bat them aside. They were okay, he assured himself, yet couldn’t bring himself to think they’d bail him out either.

****

“We’re superheroes,” he added.

****

“Superheroes?” Noh-Varr shuffled himself along the bench, leaned forward slightly to keep a keener eye on Speed’s expression. The term didn’t mean anything to him, his mind supplying him with the concept of a hero, a person who put themselves in great amounts of risk for the supposed sake of others, but ultimately could get those he or she protected killed because there was little logic in absolute bravery.

****

“What is a superhero?”

****

The question wasn’t one Tommy had ever been asked, and never expected to have been asked.

****

“You’ve been cooped up too long or really are missing some action back in your dimension,” Tommy said, then winged it with his answer. “We fight bad guys. Protect the weak, that kind of thing. There’s no short supply of bad guys, human or not, wanting to cause problems. I guess the ‘super’ part comes from having powers, abilities that most humans don’t. We were doing superhero-ing when I had a little slip up and...well, I’m here now. But I’ll get out. Soon.”

****

“You are a research case then,” Noh-Varr gave the vaguest of nods, understanding the connection between Speed’s occupation and the interest to science he may be. Special abilities. This species was still evolving, it made sense. Slightly.

****

“You will escape? How?”

“GIve me some credit,” Tommy said. “They might be listening to us.”

****

For the most part, he didn’t care if they heard him. Part of him hoped they did, wanting to shove his defiance in their face and rub it in until they were all red in the face. Using that train of thought to motivate him, Tommy forced himself up and examined the restraints.

“If I make myself pass out, I guess it doesn’t matter, right? You said they use gas.” Tommy frowned at the bonds on his wrist, deciding to focus on the ones at his ankle. It would suck the life out of him to try this now when he was dented but he had no plans on sticking around like Noh-Varr.

And what would happen if he got out? Did he take this guy along? Surely he was just a Kree of circumstance, having no intention of causing mayhem to the world. Then again, how much of it was true and not some ruse to backfire on Tommy?

Tommy shook the thoughts aside. First things first. He had a team to catch up to.

Filling the bottom of his lungs with a deep breath, he shifted his position and began wiggling his feet, which had barely enough space to do so but barely was all he needed.

Once the human had stated very clearly he wouldn’t actually be sharing any bright ideas on escape, Noh-Varr had lost at least half of his interest in him. Leaning back against the wall, he intended to retreat back into his own mind, the only thing he had for company anyway ever since being disconnected from the Omniwave and Plex. He almost missed the constant commentary and communication with his crew, with...no, he was not going to think of those he’d lost. That was sentimental and unproductive.

Not that sitting here thinking and remembering really produced any plans for escape, but he had at least formulated a very good plan of the structure of the place, during the first few times he’d been dragged to the laboratory and the scientists had miscalculated the dosage of the gas in his cell. Half-conscious, he’d gotten a near map of the corridors, the layout. He knew he was underground, this whole complex was, assuming there wasn’t another structure on top of it.

Noh-Varr listened to the guards, to the steps, to the distant voices of more cruel humans, once or twice he heard the protesting groans of other prisoners.

And, he knew that though this collar he bore was incredibly heavy and completely put white-running or excessive speeds out of commission, it did not affect his other useful abilities.

Still, a functional plan hadn’t been developed yet and so he waited for an opportune moment, counting on the humans to fail to discover his other ‘talents’.

Speed was doing...something. Something that drew his full attention back to him.

 

“Are you experiencing a spasm?”

****

A part of Tommy’s brain that never stopped sucking in data was telling him Noh-Varr was speaking. With the bulk of his efforts targeting his ankles and feet. It was incredibly uncomfortable, each grunt of pain suppressed, concentration peaking. There was a delicate balance in vibrating his molecules.

Frankly, manipulating hyperkenetic energy would have tired him less than what he was doing now, but the risk of calling attention with an explosion, however small, was not one worth taking. For now.

It felt like hours, though it was mere minutes, before he gasped as if breaking the surface of water. He heard the restraint that had been looped around his ankles clink to the ground and he let out a breathless laugh as he could stretch his feet all the way to his toes.

****

“Perfect,” he said.

Then, he wilted, half-crumbling to his left side as the world tilted and wouldn’t right itself. “Oh, I think I am going to be sick.”

****

Alright, that was an impressive ability. Noh-Varr watched in silence as his cellmate literally vibrated himself out of some of his restraints. Was this the special ability, or was there an overall element of manipulating kinetic energy? Now, he found the scientist in him intrigued and the rebellious, vengeance-seeking core growling out a warning to the rest of himself. This could still be a ruse after all. But if he played along, he might find himself in the opportune moment to actually escape. It was rational to do so by that logic.

****

“Are you not nanoactive? Your senses do not compensate? What did you just do? Vibrating your molecules? Is that a normal human ability?” Noh tried to restrain the enthusiasm in his voice, but the curiousity in his gaze was much harder to disguise. After endless days, weeks, months and maybe even years in here, this was almost as good as that moment of opportunity he was awaiting.

****

Tommy endured the feeling of nearly losing consciousness through a groan.

****

“My name says it all,” he offered as a response, managing to sit up and let his head bump against the wall.

****

If he was already this wiped out, who knew how badly the next step would affect him. Not one for mulling things over much, Tommy bit down on his tongue and studied his wrists. Nope.

He would have to put up with them for now, but at least his legs were free, which were most important. As he heaved and lugged himself to stand, leaning against the wall the entire time, he flashed a grin at Noh-Varr’s direction. The guy must have been brimming with hope, maybe thinking he could finally escape.

Tommy dragged himself a little closer until he could finally see a little of the other’s face.

****

“Look,” he said through heavy breaths, “I don’t know what your deal is, but...I don’t think you’re out to get me, so I’m going to try to loosen up one of your restraints, okay? If you do anything funny I’ll stab your eyes out.”

****

Swallowing, Tommy lowered onto his knees. “But it’s all on you then. Can’t promise what happens after.”

****

Tommy said nothing that that part of him wanting to do a good job at this superhero thing was urging him to just go on and break the Kree free. Everything else kept him at a distance, mindful that even if you showed goodness to someone, they could and usually would still stab you in the back and twist the knife.

Apparently, that idiotic part of him hoping for opportunity wasn’t entirely misplaced. But Speed was already worn out and that would definitely affect his efficiency. Noh-Varr needed him to be efficient and since he couldn’t dredge up energy for the human, he could at least offer him a reward to work for.

****

“Break or loosen these,” he lifted his arms, both hands clad in heavy casing entirely of some sort of heavy alloy and several titanium rings, “and I can probably break your restraints. Exchange?”

****

He could also help the human with any pain or adrenalind boosts, but he didn’t think Speed was in the right mindset, or rather, erase that and replace it with the entirely wrong species to appreciate nanobots for all their potential uses.

****

It was a decent trade; Tommy nodded.

****

“I can loosen them. Breaking would make too loud a noise on my part,” he said and closed the gap between them.

****

Noh-Varr’s presence was an anomaly, thick with power. It was no wonder he’d been locked up good and tight the way he was. Tommy raked his eyes over his state, finally settling on the heavy weight around the Kree’s wrist.

****

“Alright,” he said, more to steel himself for the oncoming discomfort.

****

He reached out clumsily with his tied wrists, his hands resting over Noh-Varr’s, cautious enough to not make sudden moves and startle the Kree. Tommy didn’t doubt he was a threat even tied up. His fingertips flexed against the restraint, palms on the back of the other’s hands.

He started slower than he would have liked, his body too taxed to want to obey his demands. A few mental kicks though and he was at work, all of him devoted to kinetic energy and molecules. The first set of nausea slammed into him, and still he pushed through, refusing to stop until his own hands can slip through the gap he made of Noh-Varr’s restraints.

Tommy sagged, hunched over already from the spinning world.

****

“Okay,” he forced himself to stay, “I think...that should do it. My hands can slip through. Your hands are bigger than mine but a little force will get the job done.”

****

No word of gratitude or relief was uttered on Noh’s part, but there a massive rush of the power cramped up in his body, the festering anger lending the strength that had been siphoned from him during his extremely long stay here. The metal gave a whine, then a wailing creak, before the Kree flung his arms apart with enough strength to rip a bus apart or throw said vehicle.

It felt good, more than good, it felt great to flex his arms, see his own hands and curl fingers numbed and stiff from being clad in metal without pause. With the most delighted sneer, Noh peeled the restraints off and heaved a pleased sigh. Oh yes, the exchange. With his hands free and only his ankles restrained and body burdened by the large collar, he managed to hobble to his feet, grasping the hunched form of the one responsible for his partial ‘freedom’ without hesitation and hauling him up into the dark corner Noh preferred to occupy.

His hands landed on the cuffs on Speed’s wrists, they were made of a strong metal, of course they were, but their captors had not invested as much dedication to the security of these restraints as to Noh’s.

****

“Hold still. I don’t break bones, but it could happen. Humans are fragile.”

****

Tommy couldn’t protest at being treated like a sack of vegetables, less so when the comment of breaking bones sobered him up completely.

****

“What’s a kidnapping without a few broken bones,” he said, smirk bitter.

****

When Noh-Varr clenched the bonds, Tommy willed his muscles to relax to assuage the worst of any possible damage. The relief he had felt at Noh-Varr keeping up his part of the trade was already a distant memory.

He couldn’t stop himself from talking though. “Guess this means I can moderately trust you won’t be breaking me in half anytime soon.”

****

“What benefit would I reap from that action, Speed?” Noh clenched, then dug his fingers into the metal, which gave tiny, high pitched groans beneath them. Almost like a small, tortured animal. If he couldn’t break them, he could always use his nails.

****

The question was undoubtedly addressing the credibility of his word, but Noh really had no use for a broken cellmate who’d just enabled him to have partial freedom. And on a planet this cruel, he would take anything that he could get, any help to further his cause. Freedom, the revenge. And vengeance. And then he’d tear this world apart and rebuild it, better, a Kree world, a supreme existence without a trace of humans. Or maybe just a handpicked few. Speed had won himself a ticket today.

****

“You helped me. I will honour our agreement. And harming you seems...counterproductive. You haven’t wronged me.”

****

“Man of business,” Tommy said, “guess that’s a good thing for me today.”

****

All talking ceased as the metal resisted Noh-Varr, and when it finally released its tenacious grip, Tommy winced. A soft cry left him as he concluded all fingers and their bones were in fine shape, not a crack or dent.

****

Flexing them, Tommy smiled, his energy renewed at being free. His body was his weapon and now he had the advantage.

****

“Thanks,” he threw out casually, looking up at Noh-Varr. The Kree was taller than he realized.

****

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not waiting until they pump this area full of gas.”

****

Tommy treaded to the sealed door, straining to pick up any sounds beyond the wall. “Any chance you could break this hunk of a door down without too much noise?”

****

There was nothing more Tommy wanted to indulge in was a nasty explosion on his part as he took down the door, but the resulting energy drop might impede his overall escape, not to mention since vibrating his whole body through this was out of the question; he hadn’t gotten the hang of the entire body through walls thing just yet.

****

Right after Speed’s hands had been freed, Noh-Varr busied himself with his leg restraints. Once those were free, he really stood up straight, towering over Tommy easily, nothing containing his power now except that damn collar.

****

“It will be difficult...step back,” Noh examined the door in question, a solid sort of blockish rectangle that meant business and laughed at bank vaults and maximum security safes.

****

The Kree took a few steps, measure the distance, pressed his ear to the cold metal, then nodded, thumbnail growing to a very odd little peak entirely too quickly to be appetizing. Noh broke said nail off in four places around the door, then stepped back himself, arm out in front of Speed to keep him shielded behind the larger man’s bulk.

****

The explosions were subdued, no louder than popcorn, but the holes in the door were definitely impressive.

****

“Hinges. Weak points,” the Kree explained very briefly, before grappling with the massive obstruction and toiling to break it.

****

Definitely gross. Disgust settled on Tommy’s face as he observed the strange ritual. Was this a common way to take down buildings for the Kree? Tommy decided he didn’t want to know when his stomach was as sensitive as it was. Exhaustion would do that.

****

Instead he watched, a bit mesmerized. Then Noh-Varr was looming over him, but before Tommy could comment on it, he heard the soft pops.

****

“Oh,” he said, approaching. The door was done for. “Damn.”

****

He held his hand out before Noh-Varr could leap out. Quickly, as Tommy did best, he peered around the expansive hallway. In the distance were more doors like theirs and groans and cries, muffled, wafted his way.

****

“Empty,” he said, tucking back into the room, “but I don’t doubt they know the door’s open. I’m heading east to the main hold. I saw a control room along the way. Think you can keep up?”

****

Noh-Varr only raised an eyebrow in response. He was a of a superior species, even if Speed wasn’t as impaired as other humans. Speed...well, he really was aptly named if he could manipulate kinetic energy for the purposes he’d shown already.

****

“I cannot white-run, but I am capable of keeping up, or following at least.”

****

Tommy nodded. That was good enough for him.

****

“Going to check ahead then,” he said as preamble before zipping out of sight.

****

His side and thigh were the worst of his injuries, and they burned with each step. Tommy assured them they could recover when he wasn’t in danger of being prodded and poked by who knew what.

****

In the span of two blinks Tommy was back in front of Noh-Varr.

****

“Something’s wrong,” he said, gesturing for them to hurry down the east wing. “It’s really empty. Was only one guard down there who is taken care of. But I saw a bunch of guys here before so where--”

****

The walls, or maybe the world around them, rumbled as if having ridden a massive boom. Tommy scanned the area, then heard the sounds of a distant fight where they were headed. He glanced at Noh-Varr, and didn’t wait to rush deeper than he had gone the first time.

And screeched to a halt as a mass of armed brutes skulked around the room.

Shouts leapt from one to the other and Tommy managed a sheepish smile just before he was darting and hurrying back down the hall to meet Noh-Varr.

“Okay, so they’re all down there,” he gasped, pointing. “Good news is they’re there for a reason and I’m sure that’s my team causing a mess outside. Come on, if we can get at least half those idiots out of the way, that’ll be enough for my team to get inside and finish the rest off.”

This was all going too smoothly. Noh-Varr had been kept in maximum security for so long, guarded carefully and now, on the same day as the convenient arrival of a cellmate, escape was suddenly in his sight? Maybe the opportune moment had been handed to him on a silver platter. Or in titanium alloy hand and anklecuffs.

He did his best to keep up, but Speed really lived up to his name. Not to mention the collar Noh couldn’t break really slowed his pace to a lumbering far inferior to his capabilities. Once his human ally returned and informed him of a fight, just sitting there, practically offered to him in the same convenient manner, he couldn’t restrain that core of his, the one that acted rashly, the part of him the PLEX intelligence heads always disapproved so much of.

“We can clear the whole way before your team makes it inside.”

And that was all the tactic he’d give to Speed, because he took off, fast despite the collar and threw himself into the combatants awaiting them. Time to really let that Kree superiority shine.

Despite his boisterous comment from before though, there were a hell of a lot of guards, and they were armed and ready, neither injured, underfed or unconditioned. And they came prepared. The weapons they used weren’t necessarily ‘normal’ projectiles, but Noh only noticed that once several dart-like, arrow tipped objects missed him by milimetres. They were filled with liquid, and the gun they’d come from was already repositioned and trained on him. A quick sweep of the room revealed at least six more of these launchers, though it was hard to tell where they were aimed at, with half of the group occupied with the blur that was Speed, a quarter of the most heavily armed trained on him and yet another, toiling and bustling around the side where the noises, shocks and tremors shook the walls. Must be Speed’s team.

There was his ‘cellmate’. Slowing. Definitely slowing. Running right into the path of at least two of those damn launchers. Noh-Varr moved, no thought involved, just the instinct to protect his ally, his potential freedom.

“Speed, move fas-”

He hadn’t expected their aim to be so accurate, or his own reflexes failing to avoid them. The Kree hit the ground with a dull thump and an uproar among the guards, toppling a few meters from where Speed stood, unharmed and most of all, unhit.

Tommy knew too early on he was dwindling fast. What recover time he’d allowed himself had been exerted in getting their restraints off. Now he was running on a fight-or-die instinct that he’d learn to call his companion ever since his mom learned he was a freak.

It had kept him alive on countless occasions, and had won him more than a good deal of fights with brutes twice his size. Now, it was tired from no respite, and when the launcher zeroed in on him, Tommy had felt something cold race up his spine.

There was a flurry of movement, for once not coming from him, and suddenly he was seeing the Kree collapse to the floor, the shot meant for Tommy deep inside him instead.

Then, sound exploded from everywhere. Tommy barely registered it, though his mind was recording it all down for later use. He was rushing to the Kree, instinct telling him to check on his partner in escape, but his hand barely brushed the hair as white as his own when a familiar swirl of blue magic engulfed him and, with a pop, Tommy wasn’t inside anymore.

He cried out as he landed on his back, the magic bubble having teleported him right outside. The source of the commotion was all around him, his team rushing in and probably preparing to retreat.

“Speed!”

Tommy blinked up, saw his own face with dark hair looking down at him.

The world cracked at the edges, gaps yawning for the darkness that had been waiting to claim him hours earlier. Still, Tommy struggled, grappled with it, insisting there was someone in there that needed help, demanding that they send him back in there at the least.

But all he heard was his own breath going dry, and darkness finally took him away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Find the Skrull. Obey me. Kill the Skrull._

The old man’s voice was in his head again, stomping, growling, threatening and oozing with malice. Noh-Varr knew the routine by now, command, disobey, punishment, command, disobey, punishment...etc etc. There’d been a time when he could keep that up, could resist his captors, his would be master would cry at the futility of the prospect of controlling Noh-Varr. He wondered what happened to that Kree sometimes, when he was still allowed relative privacy of his own mind.

Not anymore. Noh-Varr was no more. He still carried the name and he knew he was Kree, knew he didn’t belong on this world and in the hands of this cruel, vicious man, but there was no fight left in him to resist, not after so long. Not after they had discovered the secret to controlling him, and killed Plex, hacked his active nanites and turned him into this...creature.

_There._

He found the Skrull. The peace and quiet of the white-run was over, and he held a body of a young male in his arms that stank of Skrull. His neck was broken and Noh knew he’d achieved the kill, just as his master had commanded. But the Skrull was not alone. There were...people. Humans. Non-humans. All of them young, and all of them looked utterly shocked at his appearance.

Noh-Varr heaved a breath and dropped the Skrull’s body, ignoring the sickening crunch as it hit the ground. His body was aching, his mind protesting the pain the Warden inflicted so generously as he commanded him to incapacitate the group.

“Who’s next?” not even the words were his own, he could practically feel the Warden’s frog-like mouth forming them and his own lips slave to the man’s will, repeating them.

*

Tommy and luck had a complicated relationship, but if he believed in any deity, it was too unfair to think it could dislike him so much as it did now. Noh-Varr had become a grain among the heap of creatures in need of help, lost in the pile when Tommy had awakened in a familiar safehouse.

Of course he’d snapped and shouted, arms gesticulating all the while, to his teammates about it. It hadn’t gotten him far, less so when a surge of new problems emerged. The Runaways. Tommy, as far as anyone was concerned, had been back to his old self, throwing jabs, mocking Wiccan for casting his spells aloud. What else was there to do.

All the while the weight like a stone in his gut never ebbed, but Tommy was good at ignoring those types of discomforts. Luck, or possibly a deity should he ever believe in one, wasn’t satisfied with that. Just as he’d found a genuine smile in him, fooling around with that Molly girl of all things, the world went inside out again.

To think things could have gotten so bad.

Yet there he was now, unscathed, reunited with his entire team (some a bit shaken up, but all well), loitering in the background as the others grouped around Noh-Varr, who was hunched over and no longer trying to break their spines. Luck was just being cruel now.

Tommy skulked behind Hulkling, using his massive form to peek around. It was Noh-Varr, not some figment of Tommy’s hope that still struggled to concede it was the same Kree he had shared a cell with, that it wasn’t someone’s face that had the speedster’s chest ache.

He’d heard a description of who had attacked the others, and a prickle had been the only warning in Tommy at the time. Then, he saw with his own eyes, saw the rampage of Noh-Varr (and it was Noh-Varr) as he unleashed the might of a Kree, an agent of destruction.

That cold hand had seized Tommy’s internal organs at that moment, rooting him to his spot just like when he saw those launchers aimed right for him. Sound had detonated all over the room again, the dizziness of déjà vu sending Tommy’s mind reeling in the span of two blinks. The irony wasn’t lost on Tommy that it was that fight-or-die instinct which made him fight alongside Noh-Varr that was what had shaken him out of his stupor.

Noh-Varr, now just sitting there, had become a slave in every sense of the word, and Tommy’s gut still churned, his mind replaying, reliving the moment he had seen the Kree forced to redirect that fury aimed at his captors to people Noh-Varr probably had no clue he was harming. It was sick, unfair, a--

 

“Speed?”

Tommy jolted, whipping around to see Hawkeye watching him. She had only said his name, but he didn’t have to pick up on her body language to understand she was wondering about his well being.

With a well practiced smile, Tommy shrugged as if to say ‘some monitoring duty, huh?’ and looked away.

 

It had been Tommy though that had left Noh-Varr behind, had offered a glimmer of freedom, should have granted it ultimately. After all, hadn’t Tommy escaped, and being in far worse condition than the Kree? He had, and nothing would convince him otherwise because he knew Noh-Varr would never be free after what had been done to him.

Tommy would always know who had allowed it to come to that.

 

“We shouldn’t just leave him here,” Hulkling was saying.

 

“Might be safer to turn him over—“

 

“No,” Tommy shot out. That earned him looks from the others, some more incredulous than he preferred to note. “We’re not turning him over. He’s not,” he hesitated, damn it, “he’s not a criminal.”

****

No one spoke, at least, not immediately. Tommy was usually...well, he never really said anything decisive. At least, not in that serious a tone. Tommy was the first to wisecrack about the situation, then complain when it wasn’t resolved within the very limited time window he’d mentally allocated to it. And Tommy never really cared for any consequences, or the right thing to do.

****

“Tommy...we don’t know...what he is, I mean, he was probably..I mean,” Billy seemed a little...out of it. Whether it was the weariness after a fight or just the plain horror of the day wasn’t clear. Unlike the crystal clear doubtful glance he was sending the speedster right now.

****

Noh-Varr heard their voices, they were speaking, English, all of them, different pitches and melodies, words he was too tired to translate. Everything inside of him was twinging with the dull throb of healing, the ‘repairs’ the android had made to the OS of his nanites working, at least on all the paths his captors had perverted into channels of control via pain.

****

None of the nanites would fix his state of mind, or the stupor he was still in though. He’d changed human hands, that was all. Nothing would change now, except perhaps the method of control. The Kree had not bothered to lift his head, there was no careful calculation of his new human company, nor was there even a vague attempt at collecting himself to present a formidable being. He stayed hunched, awaited their decision.

****

Tommy straightened to his full height, as if could ever outmatch that of Hulkling’s or that of his ‘twin’. He saw all of them casting doubts at the broken form, inclined to dump him on someone else because he might be a threat. That’s all it came down to, wasn’t it.

****

Disgusted, Tommy crossed his arms to lock in his decision. He wasn’t one to admit it, but it was all too true he knew that feeling of being a crumb, awaiting to be tossed aside this way or another at someone’s behest. All of his teammates were idiots if they thought they could just leave the Kree so easily. That wasn’t what being a superhero was about, looking after your own skin.

****

Not to Tommy.

****

Still, it burned him to say, as firmly as possible, “He’s not bad. He was the one in my cell when they took me. I’m not leaving him.”

****

He barely registered replacing ‘we’re’ with ‘I’m’. It didn’t matter though because he saw the shift in Hulkling’s eyes, winning over Teddy’s compassion.

****

“We can keep an eye on him,” Tommy supplied, knowing how to seal the deal with the rest. “Just let him recover at HQ. Do you really want Cap to get his paws on him? We don’t need the adults to handle this. We can do this, and they’re busy enough as it is. Right?”

****

There was definitely still hesitation within the entire group, but also, a shift. Not only forced to examine their own actions, but by Tommy, selfish, reckless, arrogant ‘sociopath’ of the their constellation. That was something you couldn’t just dismiss as a moodswing or a whim, this was serious and important enough for the speedster to take a stand.

****

But that still didn’t quite negate the effect of taking in an unknown, clearly alien source of potential danger, nor did it encourage a wealth of goodwill towards the person who had just beaten their entire team plus the Runaways to pulps, almost twice in a row.

****

This Noh-Varr wasn’t right, he wasn’t healthy, he didn’t even look the part, pale skin laced with blue-ish veins that had pulsed way too hard during the fight. Not to mention those soulless eyes, blind, unseeing, quite literally denying the comfort of knowing your assailant at least meant to hurt you. Alright that wasn’t necessarily a comfort per say, but it gave something human, something defeatable to any foe. And with it missing, this fight had been on the eerie, not to mention nearly impossible side.

****

Kate, as usual, took it upon herself to observe her friends and teammates, then make a collective decision. And it looked like just this once, they’d be giving in to Tommy’s stubborn argument.

****

“...If you swear to keep an eye on him. No one else is staying at the HQ 24/7...and frankly I understand if no one would want to. He did just kick all of our asses. Twice.”

****

Noh-Varr continued to hope that they’d just decide to end his miserable, suffering existence, just as he had the moment the android phased his arm into Noh’s chest. He just wanted it to end.

****

“Fine,” Tommy said, if with some bite. “I’ll do it.”

****

In all honesty, that was not quite what Tommy wanted. Spare the Kree, yes, anything to divert the course that would have Noh-Varr imprisoned again. Or experimented. Forever suffocated by white walls and when the next probing would come.

****

Tommy steeled himself, burying those images again. Everyone was looking at him, expecting him to talk to Noh-Varr, to coax him maybe? Hell, Tommy didn’t want that. To actually engage with the Kree had his heart roaring up into his ears. He didn’t want Noh-Varr to see him after he’d...let him become what the warden had forced him into.

****

No one was budging. Tommy clenched his jaw, cursing under a grunt, and stepped around Hulkling. The moment he did, the chill danced up his spine, making Tommy hesitate for the second time that day.

****

Feeling not unlike a patient exposed on some cold operating table, or maybe more like an observed animal about to tread into another wild animal’s territory, Tommy bent over.

****

“Um,” Tommy willed his hand to move slowly, however painful it was, and tap Noh-Varr on a shoulder. “Hey. Noh-Varr. Can you...look up?”

****

He certainly could, but didn’t feel particularly inclined to see the faces of those freed him from the hands of his previous captors for their own purposes. He couldn’t explain a reason for freeing him from the immediate control of the Warden otherwise.

****

Noh-Varr raised his head obediently though, the voices were all clear now, he could distinguish and understand words and if he looked up, associate voices with faces. Who knew how long these people would be using him for? It might come in useful, though escape, revenge and the distant memory of home were concepts buried too deeply beneath the stupor of torture and pain.

****

At least his eyes weren’t white anymore. They looked human enough, or rather, lost their pride, their defiance, their typical Kree attributes. Noh-Varr stared up into Tommy’s face, painfully slow to recognize that this face was familiar to him. He remembered it a little more blood-stained and exhausted, but it was undoubtedly the same face. That one that gave him hope for the last time he could remember.

****

“Speed...?” when was the last time he’d been free to use his voice as he pleased? Noh felt as if he needed to rediscover his entire physical body, everything felt foreign, sluggish in response...so weak.

****

“Don’t...no collar, please. Just,” he raised his arms, wrists pressed together, hoping to escape the need for potential torture and just bypass into whatever prison this HQ was.

****

Tommy stared, horrified, unable to mold what genuine emotion he had into something lighthearted as was Tommy-typical. Disregarding the others behind him, Tommy crouched to study those eyes. They were full of life again, but one flickering and near going out, not like those Tommy had seen so fierce and determined back in the cell, of all places.

****

“No, no,” he said, quieter, but there was no doubt the others could still hear him. “We’re not capturing you. Listen. We need to get you someplace safe. Our headquarters, okay? If not, someone else might take you to study you, to see if you’re a threat.”

****

Anger, mountains of it from years ago that Tommy had compacted to fit a tiny cage, began swelling inside their confinement. “Do you want to go to a prison?” he said, hard. “If you don’t want to be another experiment, then you’re going to have to trust me, get the hell up, and come with me. I’m not going to let them take you.”

****

No one spoke, this was like watching someone coax a wild predator of some sort, except without the wonder of a beautiful connection between man and beast. This was risky and it could go wrong at any moment. Honestly, it would be so much easier to hand Noh-Varr over to someone, anyone. This was more trouble, far more trouble than busting Tommy out of juvie. This was a damn Kree!

****

And yet, no one interfered with Tommy’s Kree-whispering act.

****

Noh didn’t stir, watched Tommy, took in the tone of his voice, the thinly veiled, thick anger behind the demand which somehow did not sound as if it was directed at him. Slowly, he unfurled and got to his feet, eyes never leaving Tommy, as if he was the only anchor Noh-Varr had to the situation, hell, to this reality. And though he towered over Tommy with at least four or five inches, he stayed behind the thin mass of speedster, as if Tommy could be a potential shield against the rest of the group in case they did not agree with the charitable offer.

****

“No more prison. I will go with you, Speed.”

****

The relief lasted as long as a breeze. There was plenty more that kept said relief from acting as a buffer; everyone felt it, their feet and minds weighed down as they finally left that forsaken place.

****

What comfort Tommy had hoped to unearth in the familiar space of the ship eluded him. Tension ballooned from all corners of the aircraft, but even he wasn’t going to disturb it by demanding the witch teleport them all back. As it was, Billy was stiff with whatever memories he was haunted by, and by the calculated probability of them having made a bad decision carting Noh-Varr back with them.

****

It wasn’t until they arrived at their destination did Tommy manage a lungful of air, which was equally short-lived when he reminded himself he and Noh-Varr would be the only occupants in their HQ. Noh-Varr had been silent the entire ride over, no surprise there, yet his gaze was a constant presence on Tommy’s neck, and he couldn’t relax, not even let his fingers budge an iota the entire ride over.

****

They all entered their headquarters, a decent sized habitat with all necessary utilities (still not as grand as the mansion). The tension lessened here, replaced with sheer awkwardness of how the hell to proceed.

****

Eli was ready to jump on the orders though. “Tommy--”

****

“Yeah, yeah,” Tommy said. It was the first thing he’d said in too long for his liking, and it came out breathless. “I got it, okay?”

****

“You have to stay in touch,” Billy was saying. “You know how my par--”

****

“I’m not their problem,” Tommy said back, then sighed. “Yes. Okay. I’ll keep in touch. I won’t let him destroy the place, urinate on the sofas, or, if anyone cared about this part, break me in half.”

****

That earned him some dirty looks. Tommy supposed their nerves were still too raw for his jabs, which tasted poorly on his tongue at the moment. He shrugged it off and cleared his throat, turning his back to them to face Noh-Varr.

****

“I’ll be fine,” he offered, just to get them off his back.

****

Not waiting for them to offer help or eagerly peel away from the scene, Tommy gestured for Noh-Varr to follow. The guy looked like he needed some serious R and R.

****

Right, Tommy told himself. Just approach it logically. Baby steps, as Mrs. Kaplan would say.

****

“Here,” Tommy stopped at a doorway, “you can use this room to rest. Comes with its own bathroom and, erm, I’ll find you some clothes. We have some spare. Teddy’s might fit. Um...”

****

Shit, this tending-to-someone thing was far more aggravating and uncomfortable than he fathomed.

****

“Just...shout if you need something? I’ll check on you in a bit. I...take it you’re...hungry. Or...do you eat?”

****

“Anything organic is acceptable sustenance.”

****

That was more than Noh had said in the last two hours that it took for them to get to this...location. Whatever it was. The Kree didn’t inspect his new domain, didn’t seem any kind of interested in his newfound comforts at all. He stared at Tommy, then, slowly, at the windows.

****

He hadn’t seen the outside world through a window in so very long...

****

There was no gratitude for him to express, because even if Tommy had only taken him along on the base of Noh ‘trusting’ in him, there was no guarantee for the others. And there was no guarantee for Tommy to feel as helpful any longer.

****

Talk about a stiff. Tommy stepped aside, silently encouraging Noh-Varr to go and examine what was out the window. How eerie it was that they’d shared similar fates and barely have spoken to each other, barely knew each other for that matter. There was something more powerful than those trivialities, that of a free man seeing the expanse of the world he was denied.

****

Tommy allowed himself to observe the Kree a moment longer before he zipped off. He started a food-in-the-box meal on the stove. Was Mac and Cheese organic? Probably not. Tommy started up a vegetable soup as well, forcing himself to go slower than he’d like. Noh-Varr probably didn’t want to be bombarded with Tommy’s presence more than he already had.

****

While the food cooked, and it was cooking well enough, Tommy took the fastest shower yet and yanked on civvies, needing the change of atmosphere on his body. He went to the room Teddy (and Billy) often used when crashing here, and found clothing he hoped would fit.

****

All was methodical. Get this. Grab that. No time to think. No time to evaluate those pesky pangs people called feelings, which Tommy did have, but had learned to bat them away, choke them to death, or had others stomp to death on his behalf.

****

When he went back at last to Noh-Varr’s ‘room’, he paused, something he hated doing, and examined his tray. There was clothing draped over an elbow and his hands carried a tray with the food he made.

****

This was not how he expected his life to go. Then again, he hadn’t expected juvie either.

****

“Noh-Varr,” he called, knocking on the door with his foot. It wasn’t shut all the way, but he figured some kind of knock was customary. Or polite. Or...something.

****

“I brought some stuff. I’m coming in.”

****

He didn’t receive an answer.

Noh-Varr stood where he had moved to the moment Tommy left him alone. By the window, hand pressed to the glass, eyes drinking in the poor view that felt like the revelation of paradise to him right now. There was so much to this world, so much he’d been depraved of, so much he’d never wanted to see, wrapped up in the hatred for those who captured and enslaved him.

****

He couldn’t trust anyone here. It was only a matter of time before he wandered back into a cell, or at least, he’d die to prevent that from happening. It wasn’t fair, but life rarely was. His ideology, his philosophy, even the few values that Kree believed in, they meant nothing to this depraved world.

****

And yet he stood here and marvelled at the sky, at the grimy street below, at the life happening beyond the window pane as if nothing was wrong with this world at all.

****

When Tommy entered the room though, he turned, the flickering life in his eyes a little stronger now as he looked over the tray, nostrils flaring lightly at the scent of whatever Tommy had made.

****

“I...am I free now?”

****

Tommy shouldn’t have been surprised by anything, practically made it a mantra to let nothing faze him. Yet when he found Noh-Varr exactly as he’d left him, he had to blink a few times. The Kree was just standing there, seemingly in awe of the world Tommy thought he might have been plotting to direct his anger toward.

****

That was a good sign then, right?

****

Tommy swallowed and looked at the tray. He set it down by the bed and let the clothes rest on the headrest.

****

“Free’s a relative term,” he answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “But...you’re not in prison if that’s what you think. I wouldn’t go wandering around though, not yet. There are other guys, like Shield and the Avengers that might be ready to imprison you if they catch wind of what happened.”

****

He scratched the back of his neck. “They’re a pain in the ass, you know, so I think it would be best if you lay low here for a while, recover and all. If you get cabin fever, I think walking around the city would be okay. But we’d have to keep our heads down.”

****

Noh-Varr listened quietly, absorbed every word like a sponge and translated it into his situation. So he was still not free to leave. He probably never would be, though he doubted Speed would know anything about Earth’s terms on alien contact, or dimensional travel. He wanted to go home so badly, because the more he looked at the world outside, the more he remembered of Hala, of his ship...his ship and crew were gone. Dead. Murdered. Slaughtered by inferior beings.

****

“You are my ally, Speed,” he began slowly, the shadow of self-awareness back in his eyes, if only lightly, “a good human. Superhero.”

****

Oh. Well.

****

“Don’t need to get so sappy,” Tommy looked away and shrugged, “you didn’t deserve to be in there. You didn’t deserve what that pervert did to you either. I don’t think some of the others, like Cap, would really get that.”

****

No need to slip in that he knew exactly where Noh-Varr was coming from, how much was tumbling in his mind.

****

“Ah, so, you should probably clean up. Maybe eat. Just rest a bit.” Tommy moved to the door before his jittery feet took off without his approval. “I’ll be here.” And he lingered just a tad to throw over his shoulder, “You can relax though. I’m not going to let them take you. That I can promise.”

****

He didn’t want to be left alone, but Noh just nodded, took Tommy’s promise without question because if there was one thing he could still easily decipher, it was earnesty. Humans were still easier to read than books to him, at least, without someone stomping around his brain.

****

It didn’t take long before he came back out of the room though. His hair was wet, he’d worked out the shower easily enough and the dishes were perfectly clean. He was also stretching Teddy’s clothes, but he certainly looked a lot less like a mind-tortured alien prisoner now.

****

“Speed?” he stood there, in the middle of the room as if the courage he’d left his domain with had just wandered from his mind, “Could I stay...in your company?”

****

Tommy had been looking at the television, not watching what mindless drama (or was it a comedy) droned on. All thoughts were highlighting Noh-Varr, what was to come, what was he even doing that moment just sitting there with an alien bumping around their HQ.

****

The voices in his head sounded a lot like his teammates and Tommy smacked them all aside, grounding himself into his corner of the couch with a huff.

****

When Noh-Varr appeared, Tommy tensed and sat up a bit. The Kree looked better. Smelled a lot better too, though Teddy’s clothing was under some light abuse. He frowned at the question. He already figured out the whole formal talk routine, but no one had ever asked for his company.

****

He’d always just invited himself.

****

No doubt Tommy had to quickly scrub off whatever amused or surprised expression that almost made itself home on his face.

****

“What kind of question is that? I’m here, aren’t I? I’ll be staying here.”

****

Still, he knocked his legs off the couch to make room for Noh-Varr. Whatever. Noh-Varr was just hungry for something that wasn’t silence, that’s all. Tommy got that. Still got that, and hated that he even acknowledged the thought.

****

“I’m just watching T.V.,” he added, for the sake of adding it. “Nothing riveting.” He cleared his throat. “You, ah, look better.”

****

The tablet was deposited on the nearest surface and Noh took the invitation to sit down without question. He didn’t relax onto the couch, didn’t slouch like Tommy did so naturally. And he tried to keep his eyes off of his companion, the flickering box of primitive entertainment something he’d also never seen on Earth.

****

“I haven’t learned anything about humans...I never wanted to. But...” maybe there was something he desperately needed to know, another side to these beings that had shown him nothing but dispassionate hatred and abuse. He didn’t know why he felt depraved of something, he should be thinking about the fury buried somewhere in him.

****

Right now, just being in company that wasn’t hostile felt enough.

****

“You didn’t need to save me. I’m not your concern.”

****

“Neither is all those other people I save on a daily basis,” Tommy said.

****

How often had he used that coined phrase himself? Too much, probably.

****

“I wasn’t going to let you stay there. That’s all there is to it, so don’t spew out any of that macho crap at me,” Tommy said, waving him off and trying very hard to invest himself in the show. He had no idea what he was watching, and snuck peeks at Noh-Varr faster than the Kree could, hopefully, notice.

****

The Kree didn’t seem all that convinced, so before they got into some philosophical argument, Tommy threw out casually, “I’ve been in a cell before that.”

****

And he hoped that was enough.

****

It was, for now. It gave Noh-Varr enough logical reason for the underlying empathy he’d sensed in Speed’s actions. He didn’t need to understand humans entirely, just enough to construct a profile he could understand in mind.

****

“I was a diplomat. In training. I’m not from this dimension...but Kree exist here, don’t they? Do they have relations to Earth?” he tried not to sound too hopeful.

****

Tommy grunted. “It’s a bit complicated. We’re not exactly at peace, not at war either. There’s this whole thing about their heir, who happens to be Teddy, thing going on. Well, went on.”

****

Sheesh he was about to start rambling. Tommy crossed his arms and shoved deeper into his spot.

****

“I’m sure once things are settled, you could head home.” At a thought, Tommy had to glance over at him. “Can you get back home? I mean, if you had the tools.”

****

The initial excitement and hope faded right out of Noh-Varr. How many realities had they crossed on their crash to Earth? Without Plex, that data was lost forever and though he could certainly build the machines he needed with the right equipment, there was no way for him to recover that information.

****

“...Probably not. I should not become enthusiastic. The Kree of this dimension are probably as strange to me as humans...And it would not...No,” something seemed to chill him and though the Kree didn’t change physical size, he was definitely shrinking in on himself, collapsing what little strength he’d mustered so far.

****

“I have no home to return to. My ship was the only place I belonged, I was created to serve my position. I have failed my purpose.”

****

Tommy hadn’t trained himself well enough it seemed because he was taken aback once more by Noh-Varr’s admission. Then the Kree was caving into himself, reality seeming to punch him in the gut. Just as Tommy suspected, but had assured himself it wasn’t true, Noh-Varr had no where to go home to.

****

Silence met Noh-Varr for a while, Tommy unable to supply the necessary words or gesture to assuage his...whatever it was going through the Kree’s mind. None of them were good things, no doubt.

  
After a moment, when Tommy’s fingers itched for action, he spoke in a quieter tone.

****

“Sucks,” he said, looking at Noh-Varr’s hands. “But there are people like you. No place to go. They made new homes. Why can’t you give yourself a new purpose?”

****

Seeing the Kree crumbled in like that was turning a knife in Tommy’s gut.

****

“I mean it,” he went on, leaning forward, “so what if you were created for that? That’s bullshit. I believe you can do what you really want. You can go out there and defy what everyone expects of you. I know what I’m talking about. To hell with what they wanted you to do. You got a chance to...to you know, do something for you. Not just follow orders. Look where that got you.”

****

He wanted to snap and argue, possibly punch the human for those words. He couldn’t fathom what Speed was soliciting, not yet. What was his purpose if not to fulfil the duty he’d been created for? What was he to live for on a cruel, foreign world stuck in its evolutionary dark ages where he’d be carted off to be examined as soon as he stepped out of obscurity?

****

And how could he justify living how he wanted, when he didn’t know what he wanted, didn’t know what he enjoyed or how to be anything but the soldier, or the ensign he’d been all his life?

****

“I have never done things for myself. There’s no value in pleasing only myself...however I should achieve that. The empire...I am nothing but a functional cog in a machine...or at least...I was functional. I’m not sure what I am now.”

****

Had he ever been sure of what he’d been? Probably. Once upon a time, he had direction, strength and took his purpose from his very presence aboard the diplomat vessel. He’d been functional then and even took small pleasures for himself, began a relationship with Merree, officially sanctioned by their captain. Noh had been discovering the liberty their work gave them, the freedom to see new worlds and meet new species.

****

And then, he’d landed here.

****

“I am superfluous...a burden to you?”

****

Wasn’t that what Noh-Varr was exactly? A burden? There was a weight in Tommy’s chest and gut, but to say it was Noh-Varr himself that put it there was inaccurate.

****

“No,” Tommy said. “No. You’re not a burden, okay? I don’t have to babysit anyone I don’t want to. I’m doing what I want so don’t get flattered.”

****

As he said that, he digested Noh-Varr’s words. The guy had it rough, no doubt. Tommy, if nothing else, did what he wanted, albeit spawning destruction along his path. He’d been reprimanded, shunned, sneered at, and ultimately imprisoned. Before all that trauma of that though, there had been what he did, not executed orders.

****

“I don’t think you ever were really free,” Tommy added, turning to face the Kree completely. “All you’ve been doing is following orders most of your life. That’s not a life. That’s just...servitude.” He exhaled hard. “Man, what a pain. Look, I’m beat. Let’s just focus on you getting some R and R right now. When it’s dark, I’ll take you out. Just looking at you makes me cringe. You seriously need some fresh air.”

****

The words washed over Noh-Varr, even if their concept drove spikes into his barely re-awakened mind. He was much too weary to discuss the philosophical meaning and implications of personal freedom with this human right now. But he wasn’t sure what exactly he should do to rest. Sleep was out of the question. He doubted he’d be able to sleep any time soon. Not as long as he couldn’t be assured of safety. And Speed’s promise was not enough to go by.

****

The hours until dusk passed quietly, neither of them speaking much, just consuming mindless television. Noh’s mind was several thousand dimensions away, trying to remember something he’d lived for or even just liked besides his duties and responsibilities.

A resounding and questionable silence greeted him.

****

He didn’t know when his attention had begun waning, or when his eyes had shut, but his consciousness ebbed away, drained like the last dirty remnants of water through cracked concrete streets.

****

Luck was in one of those bitter moods with Tommy. By the time Noh-Varr was out cold, it was too late to intercept and coax the Kree into bed.

****

WIth a sigh and scrub to his face, Tommy heaved himself to stand, not looking forward to the restless sleep he’d gain tonight. Thoughts would be swelling when he finally shut his eyes too, imagine he branded as ancient history refreshing themselves behind his eyelids.

****

For now, Tommy had the Herculean task of bullying a mass of muscle into a bed. There was much huffing and puffing, and gritting teeth, and cursing all gods and then some. When Tommy finally lugged the body, bit by bit, onto the bed, he deflated over a broad chest to catch his breath.

****

“This is not,” he panted to himself, “my way of getting someone into bed.”

****

He stayed fractions of a second longer than he would have, feeling the rise of the Kree’s breath and the beat of his steady heart. Tommy felt warmth surging around in his belly, and he peeled away, studying the face in sleep.

****

No traces of trauma, imprisonment, or mind control etched into Noh-Varr’s face.

****

Tommy tore his gaze away, manhandling a blanket over the other’s form, and making an effort to never let this moment be repeated in his mind or revealed to anyone else. At last he left, offering a final glance at the sleeping Kree, and Tommy went to bed with the stone inside him weighing triple what it was moments before.

****

It was well into the night when Noh-Varr awoke. He didn’t know how much time had passed. Maybe a few hours, or maybe he’d slept through the entire next day and evening already. He had no sense of time left after so many months in that cell.

****

Curious. He couldn’t recall moving back to the room. Nor could he remember getting into bed, covering himself...or why he was covered in sweat. That alone should be cause for concern. Noh felt his arms, his shoulders, his sides. Covered in a thin sheet, his entire body. This was beyond unusual for a Kree...and it troubled him.

****

Without much hesitation he pulled off the soaked shirt, the uncomfortably sticking pants and searched for his compatriot. Speed might know...then again, why should he know anything about him?

****

The Kree decided that his mind wasn’t recovered enough to attempt inflection, so he left his room and followed the sounds of breathing and a very speedy heart close by. The fact that Speed was asleep threw a wrench into his plans though. And actually, he did look as if he needed it. Noh-Varr stood by the bed for three minutes, just watching Speed’s face. He’d never seen him look this emotionless, usually, rage, outrage, anger or disgust marred the relatively fine-cut features.

****

Noh settled down beside the bed, the floor was perfectly adequate for him to wait. He’d rested on worse.

He listened to the steady rhythm of Tommy’s heart, the depth of his breaths, the light snore...

****

*

****

Tommy awoke feeling like a slab of melted butter. Sleep had claimed him well, and while he’d battled a few nightmares, it wasn’t enough to disrupt the much needed rest his body was hungry for.

****

There was something on the floor. Someone.

****

Tommy gaped, scrambling back a few inches. The damn Kree was on his floor, just...dead? No. Chest expanding. Asleep, then. The hell.

****

Scenarios rushed through Tommy, his brain categorizing the likelihood from least to most likely, and he considered Noh-Varr either needed him last night and dozed off before he could pester him, or had, and this was the doozy one, just wanted company.

****

Regardless of the reason, Tommy dove into the present, tackling his next task. Forget why Noh-Varr was there. He was there. Needed to get off.

****

“Hey,” Tommy said, nudging the Kree with his foot. He was tense, ready to speed off if he spooked the other guy. There was always the chance the Kree could change his mind about snapping Tommy’s back. “Noh-Varr. Get up. The hell are you doing?”

****

He nudged a little harder, then huffed when he got little progress. A grunt didn’t do much, so Tommy lowered onto his hunches, still light on his toes, and shook a big shoulder.

****

“Noh-Varr. It’s me. You fell asleep on the floor. If you wanted a cold spot to remind you of prison I would have put you on the floor to begin with,” he added, because humor got him through worst things.

****

The Kree seemed rather oddly content there, but that wasn’t due to the floor. Or the temperature. It certainly wasn’t what he’d craved. Initially, he had wanted something from Speed, but in his company, the sleeping sweat had not returned.

****

And now, Noh really did not wish to wake.

****

“Cease...talking,” he muttered, curling himself towards the source of irritation as if he could just smother the irritant into submission with his mass. Since Tommy was on his haunches, he basically ended up with a very heavy, Kree throw-rug around his legs.

****

“Hey!”

****

Flustered didn’t suit Tommy well, but it didn’t give a damn if it was overwhelming any other look on the speedster’s face. How else was one to react to a Kree becoming a rug? It was one of few things Tommy hadn’t braced himself for in his cold, hard life.

****

Pressing his lips together for a moment was the best way he obliged to Noh-Varr’s demand. Then he was squirming, forced to sit on his backside, legs engulfed by powerful (and heated) arms. There, Tommy shoved harder, and reduced himself to yanking on Noh-Varr’s hair.

****

“Hey, I’m not your pillow! You’re on the fucking floor if you didn’t notice.”

****

Now he was just indulging a powerful and primitive need for contact he’d never been bothered by before. Kree didn’t seek physical intimacy, but right now, he felt as if it could possibly be the best thing he could think of to be close to Speed. Speed was human, but he was trustworthy. And he was safety, for now.

****

“I cannot sleep by myself, this is preferrable, Speed,” he stated, quite clearly perfectly at ease with the circumstance. Then again, his pride hadn’t quite reawoken yet either.

****

Jesus, the Kree was serious. Blood was definitely brewing up high in Tommy’s cheeks and he gave another wiggle, only to learn the Kree had no intention of releasing his newfound pillow.

****

“You slept just fine on the floor,” Tommy pointed out. “The floor is cold though. Just...”

****

He exhaled hard, stricken with the fear he may forever be glued to the spot. Settling back on his palms, Tommy watched the Kree a moment, analyzing his options, and not at all noting how much calmer Noh-Varr seemed.

****

“Tommy,” he said. “Stop calling me Speed.”

****

With another heavy sigh, Tommy reached out, interval by interval, and awkwardly patted the boy’s head. “Okay. Satisfied now?”

****

Amazing, how easily he could make the association plausible to his mind, how easily he settled into the notion of a human equating safety rather than torture and pain. He cracked his sky-hued eyes open at the touch, meeting Tommy’s deeply troubled gaze and holding it, no, taking it hostage, forbidding him from looking away. Noh-Varr didn’t move his head, allowed the touch as if it was what he wanted to achieve all along, which, by the way, it wasn’t, but he truly felt better in Tommy’s company.

****

“Tom-My,” he repeated, gaze fixated on the other’s face.

****

When Noh-Varr took hold of his eyes, Tommy might as well have grown roots as thick as a trees in that very spot. Data piled in his mind, though he could do little with the information. Noh-Varr’s eye color, the aura of power around him even in this sated state, the press of his body against the parts of Tommy he held hostage.

****

It was Noh-Varr speaking his name that rattled Tommy to most of his senses. Something that shouldn’t be happening, or be allowed to, woke up inside him. Something that was warm and equally hungry as his body had been for sleep, yet somehow put Tommy on so much edge that he backed away his upper body.

****

“It’s time to get up,” he said, voice breathless and not at all what he had planned.

****

“If you say so,” Noh-Varr released Tommy’s gaze and his body, unfolded his large body gracefully and sat up. Again, he traced over his arms, his sides. No sweat. Huh. The notion of comfort didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore, except that in his case, it wasn’t the softness of a mattress or a warm blanket but apparently, company.

****

“I’m hungry. And I need...clothing. And I want to go outside. I want to see Earth before...”

****

He didn’t finish that. Before I take my revenge. It wasn’t the noblest of sentiments, but as his mind returned, so did his memories and with them, the sleeping fury and rage he felt towards this world.

****

Tommy nodded, not wanting to speak for once. He kept a lid on his tongue as he mutely got up and rushed out, returning swiftly just to dump a set of looser clothing for Noh-Varr, then back out he went.

****

In the kitchen, he mechanically went for the eggs. A nice, plump omelette would put things back in order. Tommy always started off with eggs for breakfast if he could help it, and he trained his mind to focus on chopping up enough vegetables and ham for two.

****

He faltered though in the way he furrowed his eyebrows more or felt his skin prickling where he’d been held. Damn Kree was proving a nuisance after all, all touchyfeeling and wanting to be physically interactive. Even though Tommy couldn’t necessarily blame him, it felt better if he didn’t blame himself either.

****

“Food’s ready,” he called, not daring to bring it over. For all he knew Noh-Varr was stripped naked, changing slowly.

****

Slowly? What was that and where did it come from. Tommy suffocated the thought by shoving eggs into his mouth as he sat alone at the table.

****

Noh did strip naked, but not particularly slowly. This time, the clothing clung to his body with a little less ferocity, allowed for a comfortable fit. He didn’t saunter, but he walked with more confidence than the shuffle from the day before. The scent of the cooking eggs had tingled and unfolded in his nose, sending his stomach into a spasm of hunger and an angry demand that would need to be met. Possibly for the next four days. Prison didn’t exactly aim to stuff you like an animal raised for slaughter.

****

He needed to stop thinking in such bleak metaphors, soon perhaps.

****

The Kree took a seat opposite Tommy, devouring what the human had piled onto his plate without a word lost between them, though Noh had also brought over the carton of eggs and the broken shells Tommy had left out. Those would be eaten too, no need to waste any of this food.

****

“You did not want these?” the first raw egg wandered into his mouth after he’d finished the cooked ones Tommy prepared.

****

Tommy was grateful for the silence. Unfortunately it did little to quell what turmoil was still fermenting inside him, turmoil he couldn’t dissect without adventuring into foreign territory, so he let himself stew and ate his food quickly.

****

He’d only glanced up when Noh-Varr asked him the question, and he was satisfied to see Noh-Varr was looking more decent with the new set of clothing.

****

“We don’t eat egg shells,” he said, grabbing his plate and dumping it in the sink. “We can go out for a little,” he said, wanting to get down to business. “There’s a bakery nearby. Probably will buy us some lunch and bread for making sandwiches and stuff later.”

****

“Outside, yes,”  Noh seemed entirely enthusiastic to do so, though there was definitely reserve about the whole potential recapturing business. But for someone who’d spent so much time in captivity...There was a rush of movement, suddenly the Kree was eagerly striding across the room, opening the kitchen window and climbing up on the sill with some intent.

****

He took a deep breath, this air wasn’t entirely unpleasant, even if it was much too rich in oxygen for a Kree’s taste. It wasn’t supposed to feel like Hala and it certainly did not.

****

This was new. This was Earth. The city sprawled out below the building, in front of it, above it. A forest of towering lumps of concrete, glass and steel, a jungle inviting him to stretch his legs, to explore, to see the extent of the teeming life that bustled through the streets, at every corner and under every brick.

****

Noh was considering which option would be better. Dropping from the fifteenth storey or climbing up to the roof. It was his choice...he was free at least so far. After just a moment he swung himself out of the window, if only to stick to the grimey brickwall and climb up to the roof.

****

Tommy had watched Noh-Varr as he moved to the kitchen window, and was hot on his heels when he’d perched on the sill like a gargoyle. Despite himself, Tommy watched his face as the Kree took in the sight of his new habitat, where he might make a home for himself. Or destroy everyone else’s.

****

Then, the Kree was pulling a Spiderman and crabbing up the wall. A rush of panic had Tommy zipping on out and to the rooftop, the prickling sensation fading as he watched Noh-Varr climb the roof, no intent to run off visible in his demeanor. Yet.

****

“You can’t just do that all the time,” Tommy said. “People can see. Try to stay low, okay? Sheesh, I swear,” he rambled on to himself, muttering about babysitting and bug-like behavior, among other things.

****

Noh-Varr didn’t seem to really pay attention though. What else was new. Tommy sighed deeply, realizing he was doing that a lot lately, and flopped onto the edge. Might as well look at the same view while keeping the Kree in his peripheral vision. And it was a lovely view, one the old Tommy would have scorned in the blink of an eye.

****

“Oh,” he said, nudging the Kree with an elbow. “See that building there? That’s my school, when I go to it anyway. Right next to it, that one with the blue roof. There is a shop there that has the best hot dogs ever. We’ll get you one of those. And the roof two blocks down, that pinkish one, is this really old theater. Kate dragged me there a few times. They’re usually for shows, but they had some stupid dancing event once and I had to be her partner.”

****

He might have been rambling again, but Noh-Varr did need to learn about the city, right? Though how he used the information was left to be determined.

It didn’t really matter what Tommy said. Noh wasn’t listening for content, there was no context for him to store this information in and right now, he was just enjoying the pleasant sound of Tommy’s voice. Every word was rushed, chased the one before, but that seemed to be the overall characteristic of him. Speed. How very aptly he had named himself.

****

“You will show me all of these places? The city? I have a feeling you have an argument in humanity’s favour, being one who protects it.”

****

Noh toed the edge, crouched down on the ledge of crumbling concrete and measured the distance. He loved free fall, well, when he chose to do it from heights he knew wouldn’t affect him.

****

“Do you like flying, Tom-My?”

****

“Hm? Oh. Yeah. I’ll show you them. They’re not far and it’ll keep you from getting cabin fever,” Tommy said.

****

His eyes narrowed as Noh-Varr tipped precariously over the edge of the roof, and Tommy’s heart was skyrocketing again at possible implications.

****

“Actually, I’m not a flying type. I like my feet on the ground where I’m in control.” Tommy scooted a tad closer, suspicious, ready to snatch the Kree. “Why?”

****

He took a measured breath, though he may look as if he was about to tip over the edge of the roof, Noh was still solid and steady on the ledge. The distance was definitely acceptable, his body would withstand impact and he could achieve the momentary freedom, entirely dominated by gravity. Yes.

****

“I always...wanted to. Kree cannot fly naturally, but with more powerful nega-bands, it is possible. It was something I wanted to achieve, wanted to earn. But falling is almost as good.”

****

Tommy paled at the words and his arms flailed out.

****

“Whoa, whoa, let’s not get too crazy, okay? That’s a big fall either way, and I don’t think it’ll be a good idea--”

****

Thinking the worst, Tommy shot out his hand in mid-rant and grabbed Noh-Varr’s arm.

****

Tommy took the bait like a moth to the flame, or in this case, a rodent taking to cheese in a trap. As soon as he clenched the Kree’s arm, Noh-Varr relinquished his hold on the ledge, let his body tip and through his greater mass and weight, pull the poor human along.

****

The first moments of free fall were the best, the few seconds no thought crossed one’s mind, just the infinite force of momentary weightlessness, the absolute release of control, nothing holding you back, or up.

****

Noh closed his eyes, lips curving into a smile.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Tommy fell, and the cry that ripped out of him was undignified, but he cried out anyway, processing the gut-churning fact that his feet were dangling in the air and he was diving down, down, down.

No smile graced his face as he internally felt himself scream, thrown so off-balance his physical form seemed incapable of voicing that terror inside of him. Just maybe he could have adjusted his fall and dashed down when his feet touched the wall, but Noh-Varr prevented it with mass alone, arms looping around Tommy as if he was to be the parachute.

It was one of the most graceless moment of Tommy’s existence, nails dragging over Noh-Varr like a cat desperate for leverage in a situation it didn’t want to be in, and the exhilaration Tommy was prone to chasing overpowered him in those few seconds of falling.

And more like a child than a cat, Tommy shoved his face in the Kree’s neck, every limb tight and angry that control was below and above him, but not with him.

Then he screamed when the fear caught up a couple of seconds later.

Tommy’s screams sounded muffled to him, the rush of wind filling his ears, the adrenaline pumping through his body as his mind left the few, blissful seconds where he was not in control. Tommy was clutching at him in fear, anger, a mix of both. Of course, because whilst Noh was safe in the knowledge this wouldn’t hurt more than a topple down a flight of stairs, the human in his arms was much, much more fragile.

The Kree twisted his body slightly, his mass beneath Tommy’s, his arms pressing the smaller, lithe body to his own. 

The impact came too soon, the distance left behind them too quickly. Falling on Noh-Varr was like hitting a gym class mattress, but at least, Tommy should be unscathed. Noh’s back gave a light crack, but it was the concrete of the sidewalk beneath them that had given way, not the Kree’s bones. 

Screams sounded out around them, but Noh was deaf to the passersby too. He lay there, smile still on his face, heart racing and breath heavy from his lungs.

It was only Tommy’s speedster skills that had him splayed out over Noh-Varr for a handful of breaths. The initial impact had taken the wind out of him, thrown it out of reach until he could convince it to come back and fill his lungs to the bottom with much needed air. All that shouting had left him dry.

Then there was the heat of Noh-Varr against his body, having taken the brunt of the blow so Tommy was indeed without a scratch on him, physically anyway. Maybe it was because of his jumbled mind from the topple that that unfamiliar feeling in his core coiled through his chest again, but Tommy felt it, and it made him gasp that time.

With a grunt, Tommy lunged for solid ground, off Noh-Varr, and away from the funny twists going on inside him. He panted, allowing himself an extra moment to will his body to not quiver from the aftermath of having just fallen the way he did.

Spinning on his heels, Tommy directed all the aggravation into a glare at Noh-Varr, yanking on the Kree’s arm.

“He’s fine, he’s fine. We’re stunt men,” Tommy threw that and other excuses to the crowds, jerking harder on the Kree’s arm until they were tucked into an alley squished by shadows from tall skyscrapers. 

“You!” He shoved the Kree’s chest, though it did nothing, then jabbed a finger into it. “The HELL is wrong with you? Don’t. Do. That. Again. Not with...Not with me,” he trailed off, closing his mouth, and stepped away, yanking at his own hair. The Kree was driving him all sorts of crazy and it had only been a few hours.

His body ached dully from the impact, but it would wear off soon, much sooner than the rush still pulsing through him. The fall made him feel...so very alive. Something he hadn’t been since arriving on this planet. And to take Tommy with him had just seemed like...a natural thing to do. Something had brought them together, be it bad luck or a twist of fate, but Noh approved of Tommy’s company, even approved of the way the human seemed to have a dire need to protest any and all of his actions.

The rant washed over him and diminished none of his exhilaration. No, the Kree just stood there, smile still on his face, watching this strange human that garnered his attention. His attention trailed off into staring at Tommy, then moving closer. The boy took no notice, continued to attempt to talk his shock away. The rush of words only stopped when Noh-Varr had boxed Tommy in, crowded him against a wall, arms landing decisively on Tommy’s shoulders.

There was no explanatory apology, no reason for what he’d done, just a swift, hard press of lips on lips. Noh had no idea if humans even practiced this sort of contact, but he took his chances.

For someone to startle Tommy was a feat worth celebrating. For someone to do it more than twice in less than a forty-eight hour period was unheard of, and yet it was happening. Too quickly, Tommy had been assuaging his distress, suddenly cut short when a shadow overpowered him.

Tommy had only the luxury of seeing life pulsing in Noh-Varr’s eyes before--

Mind work screeched to a halt, previous thoughts crashing and tangling with others. Desperately Tommy’s brain tried to confirm the pressure on his mouth, the scent wafting over him, all of it was Noh-Varr and not a product of his stressed out state.

Noh-Varr was kissing him.

Without even a heartbeat, and it was a pounding one at that, to think more than that, Tommy’s hands lashed out, shoving hard against the Kree’s shoulders like they might suddenly be blessed with superstrength.

“Hey!” 

He would have shouted if his mouth wasn’t crushed. As it was it came out as a muffled grunt. As it was, Tommy could only whip his face away a tad, manage a nasty growl as red suffused his entire face, and use one hand to try and shove Noh-Varr’s jaw far away and knock some damn sense into one of them before--well, not important before what.

“Yes?” Noh deciphered the muffled noise, supposedly a word of warning, or at least, of disapproval, but Tommy’s body language was speaking untold volumes. Noh-Varr could feel his racing pulse, and the jittery trembly in his legs, all of which could not be attributed to disgust. Tommy was incredibly flustered and it only served the Kree as encouragement. With the human’s face turned from his, he had a clear shot at Tommy’s neck, a place that eminated the boy’s scent so very pleasantly. Noh leaned closer still, leaving the young man absolutely no place to run or turn to.

“I hate humans. They do not deserve a moment’s respite of respect from me. And yet...why am I not taking off to better this world? Explain it to me, Tom-My.”

Noh-Varr was speaking in tongues, and too soon Tommy gnawed over the prospect of having the Kree’s tongue snaking out. Just feeling Noh-Varr’s breath on his neck tightened whatever feeling that was making Tommy’s entire back rigid.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Tommy shot out, hoping it was enough to send the Kree away, somewhere that wasn’t pinning Tommy against a grungy wall. 

A still alive, very quiet part of Tommy assured him he wasn’t going to get Noh-Varr’s attention off if he blew off his question. “I don’t know,” he grasped for any idea that came from anywhere, “maybe you’re,” Tommy flinched as the face drew nearer, “look, you’re just confused. You hate humans and yet one of them saved you. It’s a normal reaction. What’s not a fucking normal reaction is--hey!”

His hand dove out, trying to act as a barrier before Noh-Varr could try something funny again. “What are you doing! Get off before I make you.”

“Wrong,” Noh was still too close, still breathing over skin that shuddered at his touch, be it in disgust or denied pleasure, that was for Tommy to work through, not Noh’s concern.

He knew he wasn’t conflicted about this. Tommy was much more than a human that saved him. He understood more than he let on and that made him invaluable to Noh-Varr. Before the young man could make good on his threat, Noh leaned down to give that tempting skin a more than grateful kiss. 

“I don’t want to destroy this world, because it is your home.”

The Kree stepped back, eyes seeking to captivate Tommy’s gaze once more.

The kiss was almost enough for Tommy’s skin to fly off, and had it continued without pause, Tommy didn’t think he’d like the outcome. Luck in all its fickle glory was shining on him in that instance when Noh-Varr leaned back, forcing their gazes to lock on.

Tommy replayed the words in his head, and his lips twitched as he could only conclude this was some bizarre ritual for Kree’s to declare their affection. The twitch turned into a half-smile, which allowed a small laugh to leave Tommy, one of hysteria and sounding very strained.

This is what Tommy had brought on upon himself. This Kree was so yearning for contact he had seized the first one to show him kindness, send him off a roof, and cornered him with the intent to ravish him. 

Tommy told himself he did not like this courting ritual and it took great effort to grit his teeth.

“Listen, Noh-Varr,” he tried slowly this time, “I...you, ah, I mean, you’re welcome for saving you. But you’re not...I mean, you’re not really into me and, so, you...need to back off. Okay?”

All the pauses and hesitance in his voice came from Noh-Varr’s stare, one so intense Tommy couldn’t endure and, ultimately, the speedster pinched his eyes shut.

The Kree’s stare didn’t waiver, didn’t stray. The life that was back in them wouldn’t be diminished anymore, it would devour anything it touched and right now, it was blazing for Tommy.

The words meant little, it was the way they were uttered that held Noh’s attention so tightly. Tommy was not his boisterous self, brushing off brazenly what he could not cope with, which indicated that he was either so far beyond his comfort zone he didn’t know how to deal with the situation or, the more likely candidate, wasn’t half as sure he wanted to reject this as he tried to sound.

“How do you know? What is the correct way to be,” he almost frowned, but didn’t want to break their eye contact, “inveigled by you?”

The laugh wormed its way out of Tommy again. This was not how he pictured the following days after Noh-Varr’s rescue to unfold, nor was it the way he ever planned to be swooned. Hell, he never wanted to be swooned, thinking he’d do all the swooning himself.

Noh-Varr had taken one step into his life and turned what Tommy knew inside out. Yet Tommy steeled himself, part of him not willing to lash out completely at the Kree. After all, he was an alien, and aliens did crazy shit all the time when not familiar with human customs.

“There is no correct,” Tommy grappled with the word, “way for that. Just...Jesus, Noh-Varr, I don’t even,” he tried to squirm away, but that only earned him a tighter grip. “Just because I saved you doesn’t mean you have to...do all this!”

But he was foolish if he believed his words. Noh-Varr had determination in his eyes, and where the hell that would lead them, Tommy didn’t dare to let his imagination consider.

“You don’t want to do this,” he said, firmer. “You’re just all...confused and figuring out what to do with yourself after what you went through.”

Now, Tommy did earn himself a frown. This was evasive behaviour, but it wasn’t stemming from what Noh would consider definite rejection. He may be Kree, an alien, but Kree too had relationships, arguments, attraction. Of course, they might be very, very different to how humans interacted with the parties of their preference. Noh’s grip loosened, dropped from Tommy’s shoulders, released him entirely.

“I am feeling much better. But I can...see you are trying to be subtle. You do not wish for this much proximity. I...” he wasn’t sorry, so he wasn’t going to apologize. He just let the sentence hang there for a while.

“I understand. This is not something you want to entertain.”

Tommy could finally breathe as Noh-Varr let him loose. The Kree was intelligent, regardless of his naivety of this world. His grip on Tommy had been fierce, as if Noh-Varr recalled Tommy’s potential to vibrate and wouldn’t risk the speedster escaping.

So he should have been pleased and relieved Noh-Varr looked dejected, claiming he understood Tommy’s lack of interest. Damn him though if the look on Noh-Varr’s face pulled out memories of how he’d seen the Kree not that long ago. Memories proved more potent than Tommy would like to give them credit for.

“God, you’re so close to being a lost cause,” Tommy said. He scrubbed his face hard and let his hands fling back to his sides. “Noh-Varr, just chill, okay? You’re freaking me out and yeah, you don’t just go jumping people like that. That also freaks people out.”

Why was it such a task to talk to the other, taller boy. Tommy had to pace to feel better.

“Look, you don’t have to look like a kicked pup. We just...been a tough couple of days. I’m not going to hold it against you that you got all,” he waved at the air, “clingy and, erm, we’ll just leave it at that.”

Because to voice Noh-Varr having some interest in him was too bizarre for Tommy’s current mindset to cope with.

Sighing, Tommy collapsed against the wall. “Billy would love to see me this way wouldn’t he,” he muttered. Leaning on the wall for support was only encouraging the images of Noh-Varr pinning him. Tommy shoved off and carefully tugged on the Kree’s elbow. “Come on.”

He had to bite down on his tongue again as he navigated through the streets, very mindful to make sure Noh-Varr was following. They didn’t speak along the way, not that Noh-Varr seemed to mind. There was plenty of activity and the thrum of the city that was whitenoise to civillians was a cacophony of new life, new beginning, action for someone like Noh-Varr.

It took a little longer, with Noh-Varry getting distracted by this thing or that shiny thing, but Tommy eventually lured him into the bakery he had spoke of. It was more like a cafe, equipped with seats and booths, though all the food was purchased upfront. There, Tommy allowed Noh-Varr to inhale the aroma of a bakery, peruse the delectables.

Tommy put back his front as he chatted up the pretty girl behind the cash register, paying for both their meals. He earned himself a giggle and a number (on his receipt). Some balance was restored to the universe in that alone. 

“Hey,” he called to his responsibility. “Come on. This way.”

He took a corner booth with one side consisting of an expansive window so Noh-Varr could watch the city unravel. Tommy shoved the tray with Noh-Varr’s food on it (sandwich, a few treats, juice), and then picked at his own food. He wasn’t quite hungry from the fall, but knew he’d have to eat soon.

“Okay,” he said after a moment, thoughts finally settling. Not quite organized, but not in chaos. “Now,” he went on and looked up at Noh-Varr. “You gotta level with me. And by that, I mean what the hell was all that about back there?”

It was odd, the way the dominance over a situation could flow back to Tommy with just a few sentences as the Kree retreated into his mind to mull over what had been said. Or rather, he needed to mull over why he felt the sudden need to touch Tommy an obscene amount.

The hectic life happening all around him distracted him from developing those thoughts soon enough and he was grateful to Tommy for allowing him to watch, to look, to position himself near a window in that cafe as he drank in the sights like a man dying of thirst at the longed for oasis.

Once there was food in front of him, Noh tended to lose interest in even the outside world, well, at least for the few minutes it took him to consume said food.

Tommy’s sudden questioning though drew his attention right back to the issue he should have thought over since it had happened. And worse, the rush was flowing back through him, as if pinning Tommy to a wall wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy this sudden hunger for the young human.

“Do you mean the fall from the roof, taking you with me, or kissing you?” 

For a moment, Tommy didn't want to believe his ears. He had implied everything, or so he thought, and if the Kree wasn't just that--a Kree lost on this new world--Tommy would have pinned him for yanking his chain. 

"I meant all of it."

If his voice was a tad stiff from the insistent memories, he didn't let it show in how he sagged back with his arms crossed. 

There was something in the way Noh-Varr glanced at him that sent a familiar chill up Tommy's spine as much as a heat exploded over his skin. He knew enough about that look. 

"Like that," he said, eyes refusing to leave Noh-Varr for fear of dropping his guard. "That look like you're going to jump me. Where does that come from. You're insisting that it isn't some product of you not getting laid in so long that anyone who shows you kindness the first time so...what is it?"

All of it. Well, given that he hadn’t really processed it himself, that might be a challenging task. Did he really want to explore and explain every process set in motion by association to Tommy right now? 

The Kree remained silent just a couple of minutes beyond comfortable, crossing into awkward for the human and a measured time for himself. He needed to explain this simply, straight to the point and not lose himself in details he had not solved yet.

“Attraction. That is the base of it,” Noh didn’t even have the decency to lower his voice, “I realize your customs are very different, but Kree do not believe in avoiding the facts or truth of things. We value being given the full parameters of any situation. I find you attractive. You are also a curious human who intrigues me enough to deny the immediate need to change this world for the better. You are the perfect product of your species’ crippled evolution, perfect in every flaw. I want to..explore you. I want to know if humans are worth sparing or if I should give in for the hatred I have cultivated for so long.”

Damn. Tommy, always on the move and equipped with a smart comment, was stricken to his spot, doing a fine impersonation of a statue. His mind must have finally agreed, yes, this confession was too much even for him.

Which was bizarre given Tommy’s attraction to having people shower him with attention, complimentary or otherwise. Yet with Noh-Varr, maybe it was the intensity or...something, Tommy felt all his insides squirming in a way he’d never recognized before.

“Okay,” Tommy answered, slowly.

So, Noh-Varr considered him perfect and thus Tommy was the impetus for either the world being spared by the Kree’s rage or for its destruction.

“No pressure,” Tommy exhaled and tangled his hand through his hair. So you’re attracted to me. Great. Okay.” The weak laughter, underlined with hysteria, tumbled out of him again. “What, then? Is it...something primal in your Kree DNA or something? If we go back to HQ, are you going to jump me?”

“It is not inherent to my Kree DNA, no,” Noh-Varr recognized the laughter as superficial and potentially hysterical, but he did not know which of his words had caused this state of mind in the human. Maybe they went about their sexual attraction very differently, though that would certainly surprise Noh-Varr, since the species wasn’t subtle about anything else.

“I do have some self-control. And you have made it more than obvious you are not...interested in pursuing any physical relation. I assume you find yourself too sensitive for such a matter?”

Sensitive! Tommy laughed at that, a genuine laugh that was in much need of being heard more often than that hysteria-lined one.

“I’m anything but sensitive,” he shot back, palms splaying flat on the table so he could lean forward. “I just got thrown off a damn building was all. My mind was a bit occupied. I hate flying, which, by the way, you’re still crazy for doing.”

Stupid Kree and his stupid stare, and his stupid lack of understanding. Tommy refused to back down from his position though, riding out the waves of unease.

“Just for the record, which you are in serious need of having, I’m more interested in that,” Tommy gestured at the cashier, “than someone with a dick.”

It tasted odd on Tommy’s tongue to say that, but his sexuality crisis, not that he had one, was no one else’s dirty laundry.

“You are only interested in reproduction, how very odd,” Noh was rather fondly noticing how close Tommy dared to come, his defiance thick behind every word. Sexuality was such a primitive concept, to restrict oneself from relations with persons just because of their gender seemed...idiotically narrow-minded. Noh had so much to learn about humans still, but if Tommy was really to be his turning point, his pivot, then he might consider becoming a student.

“So, it is uncommon, for humans? You don’t make any connections with the same sex?”

“What?” Studious wasn’t the reaction Tommy had been aiming for. “No. I mean, I guess. It’s more common now. Some people think it’s wrong, but they’re ridiculous. What I mean is--No, wait, you’re not getting me off topic.”

Tommy fisted his hands on the table and glowered. The impact wasn’t as daunting as he hoped, yet when had Tommy backed down from a challenge.

“I’m not into it just for reproduction,” he said, falling back into Noh-Varr’s tangent despite his efforts not to. “I don’t want kids. Not now anyway. I do it because it feels good and is a great stress reliever, got it?”

“And the difference to having sexual relations with a male is staggering?” Noh quickly picked up on how easy it was to throw Tommy off of his furious mood into an insecure fumble for arguments that barely stuck together a botched logic. Probably one even Tommy didn’t really believe in himself, if he took the time to examine his words.

“You did advise me to try some...R and R? Restoration and Recreation?”

Tommy groaned and scrubbed his face, something else he’d been doing too much of lately. “It’s like talking to a child, I swear,” he muttered, and submitted to letting his head rest in one hand.

“You’re not getting a pity fuck out of me in any dimension,” he said, bite to his words, “just so you can recuperate and then rest. Not restoration and recreation!”

He looked away and waved Noh-Varr off, refusing to believe he was teetering off his well built mental defenses. “No offense, but bending you over isn’t an ideal method of R and R.” Ah, there was the tone Tommy was comfortable using. Took him long enough to find it.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, long enough to pick up the napkin and eating it as casually as the actual food he’d devoured moments before. Maybe, his free fall and sudden rush of freedom had catapulted him into an irrationally rash state. He was always impulsive, but since arriving on Earth, he had to ensure to attune himself now that he was finally free of control.

Still. In this situation, with Tommy, there was nothing that seemed inappropriate. Tommy didn’t know him, didn’t know the Kree, didn’t know what to expect or how to be disappointed by what he got.

“In all honesty, I was entertaining the thought of bending you around me, or rather, to fit to me.”

Tommy blanched. This was not at all like the banter he was accustomed to, and he was feeling more like he was on the receiving end of the bad jokes and mockery.

“You wish,” he forced out around a mean smirk. 

To think it had been hours before Tommy was fumbling with his sympathy for the Kree, and now he wanted to put Noh-Varr in his place more than anything. What that place was, he wasn’t quite sure, but it sure as hell wasn’t over a bent Tommy.

“This is my territory,” Tommy said, motioning to the window. “I’m at home advantage. Back on that ship I was beaten down, admittedly, and was off my game. You couldn’t get to me if you tried,” he finished, and stabbed a piece of fruit by his sandwich.

He stuffed it into his mouth, purposely leaving out how much Noh-Varr had already gotten from him back in the alley.

“You would be at a home advantage anywhere on this planet,” Noh reminded, the amusement and banter dropped from his voice by now. Tommy’s bristly attitude was very clearly defensive, but the strength to break through those barriers had left Noh-Varr for the moment. Strange, how easily the thrill from before could wane off in such a short timespan.

“Anywhere in this universe, actually.” 

It was abundantly clear that the act of saving him had nothing to do with compassion on Tommy’s part. And Noh-Varr didn’t have a problem with that, but now, he could no longer see any reason for the young man to have risked so much for him if he wanted nothing from him.

Tommy chewed slower, the words sinking in. After another aggressive bite of a strawberry, he shoved his plate forward.

“Eat,” he told Noh-Varr. “You need it more than I do.”

As he said that, he leaned back and crossed his arms, jaw working. Those words shouldn’t have affected him so much, yet that earlier sympathy had a funny way of sticking around and making it so.

“Finish eating,” he added, dropping the earlier subject entirely, and knowing it would come to bite him later. “You’re in desperate need of a change of scenery. I’ll take you to the theater next. It’s closed but I can break us in easily. Much nicer when no one’s there anyway.”

Well, he wasn’t about to refuse food, though he did wonder what swayed Tommy’s vicious mood. Humans were so very, very emotional and strange. 

“You are still willing to spend time with me?” it was odd, this entire situation. Tommy didn’t want him, nor did he appreciate his presence despite being the one who insisted on saving Noh. And yet, he pushed away when Noh insisted, then offered and ordered when the Kree withdrew. Noh wondered if he was being involved in some ritual dance of some sort. Then again, Tommy didn’t look to be much of a dancer.

“You are very confusing.”

Tommy ignored that, fishing out his phone to text Teddy that all was well. He left out the bit about taking the Kree out sight-seeing. Details.

“I hate repeating myself,” he finally answered, then got up when Noh-Varr ate the food, and the napkins. “You’re going to weird people out. Eat those things with discretion.”

All he got was a tilt of the head, and Tommy huffed, leading them out. Fresh air was in need in abundant supply. Even better, a little breaking in.

“We’ll go back later,” he told Noh-Varr as he once again navigated the streets toward the theater, and once again giving the Kree a chance to soak up the sights that only a city like this could provide.

When he had enough, he hauled the Kree by the arm and into an alley, very mindful of how close they were as he found the proper door. A little persuasion and it clicked open, spilling them into darkness that didn’t bother Tommy. He’d been here plenty of times.

It might have been a bad habit they weren’t speaking much as they traversed from one place to another. Tommy could hear his own heartrate pleading for something he wouldn’t give it upon hearing Noh-Varr’s breath closeby as they stuck close, creeping up and around.

Too long after they spilled out into the theater, grand and with high ceilings that would make the average skyscraper blush. Here, Tommy allowed himself a moment to relax and sped up through the rows of seat and up to the stage.

“Well?” he called out, his voice bouncing around. “Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

The Kree had followed his guide obediently, drinking in as much life and sights as he could. He didn’t suppose he’d be sick of seeing Earth anytime soon, despite what the place had done to him. It was so very different from Hala’s bright, cold buildings and composed people who conformed to a military might with the same ease as they went about their daily affairs.

The building and room...no, hall, Tommy had brought him to resonated with some form of life, though it was entirely unfamiliar to Noh-Varr. He couldn’t fathom what it was used for, what all the seats were supposed to tell him. There was a stage, the center of attention. And on it, the center of his attention, Tommy. The Kree let himself fall into one of the cushy seats and drank in an equally new and pleasant sight. He’d be quite comfortable watching Tommy’s life play out on a stage, if he could witness every moment of it.

“I do not know what humans do in here, but it is...inspiring,” he couldn’t decide whether he meant the hall or Tommy.

“It’s mostly for shows. See,” Tommy zipped around the enormous stage, tugging on the velvet curtains, “behind here is the crew. The curtains are pulled aside like this when the show is ready to start. It might be a dance, or a musical, opera, whatever. People sit where you do and watch it.”

Tommy realized that sounded incredibly boring. “It sounds better than how I tell it. I’ve seen a few shows here with Kate, and they were a bit boring but...most people like it.”

He thought about what Noh-Varr had, or rather, didn’t, back home to not understand this concept. “You really don’t know what I mean, don’t you?”

Tommy scratched his head. “It’s...entertainment. Don’t you have anything like that?”

He dashed down and plopped into the seat beside Noh-Varr without a second thought. 

“Now if you’re here and the show on stage isn’t to your entertainment, then it gets boring. But the chairs are really nice so I just napped the last time Kate dragged me to see a musical,” he said, stretching out from fingertip to toes as if to prove his point. 

“Kate is your partner, is she?” Noh asked, innocent enough, but something inside him twinged. Tommy had mentioned her name at least three times in the span of five minutes and the implied amount of time he spent with this woman, girl, female, only pointed to an obvious conclusion.

The twinge didn’t stop him from watching Tommy’s lean form stretch out though and his mind supplied him with a rather vivid image of what that would look like on a bed, minus the clothing. He could definitely imagine himself admiring the view and show then. Tommy, laid out on a surface, it didn’t have to be a bed, he wasn’t that obstinate, stretching his lithe, well-trained and yet supple body, giving him a biting remark and simultaneously, an invitation. Noh-Varr gave a deep breath, cleared his throat, but the image wouldn’t fade from his eyes.

“Huh? What-Oh.” Tommy propped his legs up on the seat in front of him. “No. We’re not together. We fooled around a little before. We’re just really close friends though in the end. Didn’t do much beyond kissing.”

Tommy cleared his throat, flushed as he divulged that information, which was in no part a secret, but felt like it as he told it to Noh-Varr. He had to forced himself to study the stage instead of glance at the Kree to see what he was doing, looking at, anything really.

He thought he should say more, maybe apologize, which was ridiculous in it of itself. At the least he could offer Noh-Varr some semblance of one, assure him it wasn’t his fault for Tommy snapping at him. The guy was just recovering from being a mess.

Mustering all his nerve, Tommy glanced at Noh-Varr to solidify his thoughts, and froze at the Kree staring at him, not so innocently as his question had been.

Aggravating it all was Noh-Varr’s general attractiveness. You didn’t have to be into guys to know the Kree was a looker and would be a sight for any sore eyes.

Tommy was staring at him. Noh-Varr felt it like fire running over his skin, his senses suddenly so focused on the young man. The vivid image burned itself into his mind and he found himself drawing another heavy breath. It felt as if the human beside him was raising the temperature through sheer force of will. Noh gripped the sides of the seat, felt them creak and groan beneath his grip.

He wanted to touch him. Again, and much more leisurely than he had before. He wanted to see how flexible, how supple that body could be, he wanted to see the anger in Tommy’s eyes change into greed, into...

His mind was running away with his sanity and Noh didn’t know if he should stop himself and try to regain control of the situation. When he did move, it was a light tilt towards Tommy, one that strained and stressed Noh’s grip on the wood even more. He wouldn’t be surprised if he’d be holding splinters in his fingers soon enough.

“I am glad she is not.”

Nothing got by Tommy without putting up one hell of an effort not to, and so it was painfully obvious what was making the seat beneath Noh-Varr groan and squeak as it struggled to maintain its form. 

“Jesus, you’re not joking,” Tommy said, eyes raking over the Kree too quickly for the average person to notice he’d done it. He saw all the signs on Noh-Varr like stamps on his forehead.

And there was a fire boiling in Tommy’s gut, brewing hottest in his crotch now and in his face. Somehow he felt exposed, on a surgical table, and Noh-Varr could see all of his doubts and secrets.

Peaking in those feelings, Tommy felt a pull on his arm, urging him to reach out without conscious thought to the repercussions.Tommy was not acquainted with concern and it took him by surprise when he didn’t stop himself from touching the Kree. His hand landed on Noh-Varr’s jaw, gripping it so he could study that face he felt so familiar with.

“They really fucked you up, didn’t they?” he breathed.

Whatever had been boiling inside of Noh before this moment was turning into steam, evaporating beneath Tommy’s gaze, only to condense and solidify at his touch. The seat gave a final protest and Noh was holding the armrests in his hands for a stupefied moment, then he dropped the useless splintered wood to the floor, without letting his eyes leave Tommy’s for a second.

“You know they did,” he offered, he’d long since understood that Tommy knew exactly what a long imprisonment at the cruel hands of humans was like. And only now did it show in the young man that perhaps that alone was his motivation to free Noh-Varr. A kinship, unexplained and yet there was no need to. Noh-Varr didn’t need to hear Tommy’s story, he’d lived it, maybe even beyond what Tommy knew.

And yet the realization that it wasn’t him, but his situation that drew Tommy in, the fire would not be tamed, the urges only pulsing stronger through Noh’s mind, pushing and squeezing his sanity and reason aside. Tommy’s fingers on his skin...if he could mould himself to the hand, he would, but as it stood, he only slightly leaned into the touch, offered a little closer proximity, a silent plea for Tommy to push his problematic approach to attraction aside for just this moment.

Tommy didn’t pity people, knowing how much he loathed the looks people had given him. Better they hate him or find him a nuisance than pity him.

So he could not offer that to Noh-Varr, even as his hand burned at the Kree leaning into the touch, clearly starved for attention that wasn’t inflicting agony on him. Tommy sighed heavily and patted his cheek.

“Yeah, I know. There are a bunch of bad people,” he said, not taking the time to realize his speech wasn’t so muddled as it was earlier. “But there are good people. There are things worth fighting for I think.”

His palm stopped patting, splaying out on Noh-Varr’s face. A flash of disgust washed over Tommy, picturing how a man could pour days upon days of harm to another, for what? That disgust and ire boiled into Tommy’s limbs as he quickly fisted his hand in Noh-Varr’s hair, not enough to harm the Kree by a long shot.

Tommy leaned closer. “You’re going to still see a lot of bad stuff, Noh-Varr,” he said, as if though there wasn’t a tension about to snap between them, “but I’m going to point out the good, and hope to all gods, if any, that you don’t reconsider your plans to dominate this world, because I’ll take you down faster than you can blink.”

Noh-Varr took a long moment to lock gazes with Tommy, just like he had when he’d learned the boy’s real name and struggled to pronounce it correctly. Here was a reason why Tommy, a misfit amongst his peers or so it had seemed, was beyond perfectly human in Noh’s eyes. He knew exactly what his species was capable of and yet he’d found reason to want for better. And most of all, he was demanding the same of Noh-Varr, without regard to their differences, only seeing what made them the same. Accepting without question that Noh too was capable of this epiphany, that life was more beyond what either of them had known before.

“You are the good, Tom-My. Do you not see that is what I have been trying to say? I already have found reason to reconsider.”

Tommy’s hand stayed put as he processed that sentiment. 

“I’ll give you that,” he replied, hand finally retreating, though he swore he could still feel the texture of Noh-Varr’s hair. “If I’m what keeps you from stomping around and rampaging, then okay. What’s one more burden?”

A smirk crept out of him, his skin still prickling, especially his leg where it was just about brushing Noh-Varr’s. To remedy that, Tommy attacked his ‘feelings’, which he didn’t have, by playfully nudging his knee into Noh-Varr’s, intending for the act to feel harmless.

It felt anything but. Tommy had to play off his tension as a cough and said, “Anyway, if worse comes to worse, I’ll just kick your ass and have you pinned before you knew it. Easy enough.”

“If worst comes to pass, I would like to see you try,” Noh challenged, the tension still riding high through his mind, but his senses establishing a control over his body, except for where Tommy’s knee pressed into his. Apparently, no control was possible with Tommy’s immediate proximity.

He wanted to touch him, show him what he meant, show him that in an odd way, he was grateful Tommy gave him such an overwhelming distraction, not letting him linger in the limbo he’d been hanging over for so long.

So it only felt natural to touch the young man’s arm. Noh-Varr tried to convey everything left unsaid through the light contact, just resting his hand on Tommy’s forearm, giving it the lightest of platonic squeezes.

Noh-Varr’s hand, Noh-Varr touching, hand was hot, heat going down places it shouldn’t. Those were some of the thoughts percolating inside Tommy, and his ogling like an idiot at the point of contact wasn’t helping much either.

There was an attraction, simple chemistry at work against him, and Tommy acknowledged it, if only to see if that would satisfy it. It didn’t leave though, instead swelling now that Tommy had agreed it was there and it was just another fact among many in this world.

Tommy snatched Noh-Varr’s wrist, his breath hitching. Numerous images floated to the surfaces, along with explanations for his outrageous behavior, even by Tommy standards. It’d been a while since he had any sexual interest, Mrs. Kaplan would probably conclude he was equally starving for affection and now that it came in a somewhat positive manner, he was realizing how parched he was of it.

All of those Tommy throttled to death, and still it revived itself.

His grip tightened, meaning to throw Noh-Varr’s arm off and escape, but all he could manage was to sink his nails in harder.

The squeeze of his hand and bite of his nails was the last straw, the last sign Noh-Varr could take. Tommy was coaxing reactions from him through sheer presence alone and now, the damn fool was pouring oil into a roaring fire.

No longer could he ignore the subtle messages Tommy’s body language sent him, no longer could he pretend he couldn’t hear the pounding rhythm of the boy’s heart, the heat that rolled off of him in contagious waves, crashing against Noh’s self-control. A control that rapidly dissolved beneath his starving hunger to be close to something, someone. Anything to give him reason to cling to, to latch his entire being to.

And maybe that’s why it felt so unnaturally good to pull Tommy over him in a swift move, maybe that was why connecting his lips to Tommy’s was the sweet relief he’d been craving since waking up this morning, no matter what the repercussions. One hand on Tommy’s arm, the other on his shoulder, forcing, pressing and hoping the young man wouldn’t shy away and flee from this, not again.

Tommy knew it was going to happen, and that did nothing to prepare the reaction his body bristled with when Noh-Varr held him in place for a kiss. Irritation, both at himself and any deity that allowed this, and something akin to pleasure rolled over him, bundled into his core and then detonated, their fingers ensnaring every nerve.

A sound left Tommy, but he couldn’t say what it was. His hands had somehow fisted in Noh-Varr’s shirt at his broad shoulders, and then he was tearing away to meet the Kree’s heavy gaze.

The kiss had been hard and sweet. Tommy didn’t do sweet, and if this moment of foolisness was to happen, it wasn’t going to be with Noh-Varr thinking he had bested him. 

Growling, Tommy caught fistfulls of Noh-Varr’s hair again, this time with meaner intentions, and he yanked and adjusted his position to assert his dominance. 

The drive for dominance was not lost on Noh-Varr, but he never had done well with anyone asserting themselves in a higher position, superior to him in any way. Tommy was challenging him, be it just a kiss, it was a gauntlet, thrown down between them. And yet he knew he could easily overpower the boy if he had to, but that wasn’t what this ‘fight’ was about. Tommy wasn’t pulling back from the kiss, he was merely turning it into a battle. There were fists in Noh’s hair, a harsh tug here, a downright vicious pull there.

And again, it only added to the pyre, a never quenched thirst that only grew the longer their lips touched, the longer Tommy rammed his tongue into Noh’s mouth like it was a weapon and the longer they gave in to the unbearable tension that had been mounting between them.

Noh was intensely aware of how well situated Tommy was in his lap, how eagerly his body accepted this despite his mind’s protests and the fact that his hands slid away from arm and shoulder to land on hips, sharp, pointed hips barely covered with skin and muscle, hips made to slam against him as he...

That image from before? It was evolving a life of its own.

Time was misplaced as the kiss flourished into something aggressive, tongues shoving tongues, lips scrubbing against lips, and all the while hands were moving as though they were pawns to move on a chessboard. Speedster skills were well favored in this situation, always a step ahead, according to Tommy.

Then his mind, at long last, caught up to what his body was doing, and Tommy gasped, tearing his mouth off, panting and staring straight down at Noh-Varr.

A curse tried to escape between his deep breaths. Tommy gulped in air and shoved Noh-Varr away just enough to not be engulfed by his scent. They shouldn’t be doing this, even Tommy understood that and he was essentially the antichrist as far as others were concerned.

But all that amounted to was a smirk and Tommy saying, “Looks like I’m doing more than fine at that ‘trying’ thing you mentioned a moment ago.”

There was nothing better than re-establishing his cocky air by shoving it in someone’s face, even if that person was not a person at all, and was fueling things inside Tommy that shouldn’t be fueled.

It took half a minute for his mind to catch up with Tommy’s words and the meaning behind the remark, but Noh-Varr held a lazy smirk in answer to the cocky statement.

“You call this pinning me? A poor effort at best, Tom-My. I can easily still move,” the movement that his body seemed pre-designated for the situation was a slow roll of his hips. He knew it would probably scare Tommy off rather than entice him, but that one, glorious moment he bumped the center of the damn pyre to Tommy’s weight on him, the brief glimpse of friction that could promise such pleasure, it was worth it.

And his hands were still on Tommy’s hips at that.

Tommy’s skin must have leapt off him at that point. His head bent forward, a shrivelled sound falling out of him as his body rode the motion, while his mind screamed at him to back away.

With will and some extra kicks to his mind, Tommy glowered down at Noh-Varr.

“Like games do you?” he asked, lowering his mouth over Noh-Varr’s, mimicking the rock of the Kree’s hips with one of his own, this time allowing their chests to brush. 

And just as Tommy dipped lower to kiss once more, he broke out of the the less than violent grip on his hips to dash away, appearing on the stage.

“You’re out of your league, Noh-Varr,” Tommy said, letting the taunt of his voice carry throughout the theater.

It took him far longer than he would have liked to realise Tommy was gone from his grip, from his touch and reach. Noh sat up with a grave expression, disappointment the most prominent feature of his new look.

“Where should I aim if not for the impossible?” he offered, shaking his head, trying to remind his body that this was nothing more than a game to Tommy and it would take considerably more effort to get them to try that for real.

Tommy looked over Noh-Varr, dissected him within seconds, and his smirk bloomed.

“Hey,” he said, “forget the impossible. You that into me? No one gets to touch more so easily.” Tommy linked his fingers behind his head. “So maybe there’s some tension between us that needs to get out. How do I know you’re worth the trouble when you’re just standing there like a kid who lost his cotton candy?”

That threw him for a loop. Was Tommy asking him to justify his interest or try to present the positive aspects of his personality or was he just, again, challenging him to an action?

What he’d been able to gleen knowledge-wise about Tommy, it was a combination of all three, much less verbal, definitely physical.   
It wasn’t white-running, but Noh-Varr definitely sprinted to that stage, unwilling to let his fire die in the rift between them.

“I could show you I plan to retrieve my candy,” he didn’t know he could purr, but this was definitely a sound from that category. The stage seemed so much smaller when one stood on it.

Tommy liked this, and could admit to that much. Toying with others, harmless banter (for the most part), and knowing smirks were something he understood.

Setting aside his very slight impressed reaction to Noh-Varr’s speed, Tommy said, “I don’t know about that. Sometimes I look at you and see a docile pup, eager to please, and the kind meant to be tamed, not be the tamer.”

With that, Tommy quirked a brow and rushed to the far back corner of the stage where equipment laid in tangled heaps.

Noh-Varr followed him like bloodhound, set on his heels like a trained dog eager to please his master. Even if his master was demanding disobedience to his words as a given.

“Is that a secret wish to be on the receiving end of said taming, Tom-My? It is good you are so freely aware of your preferences.”

There was something on the floor behind Tommy, Noh wasn’t sure what the speedster wanted with this mess of objects, but he really wasn’t paying attention. Captivated as he was by the distance he was rapidly closing between himself and his quarry, his hands twitched, ached to rip away clothes that were no longer necessary...whilst simultaneously experiencing the urge to chase Tommy over the city, run him down and have him as he deserved to.

Tommy leaned back, feet dragging on the ground, toes still light. Noh-Varr was coming for him, and a rush had Tommy’s eyes dilating and his heart pumping with demands he still struggled to keep at bay.

At the last moment, Noh-Varr just about lunged at him and Tommy side-stepped gracefully. A laugh erupted him as Noh-Varr tripped on the masses, having to adjust his balance and compensate for the other masses of equipment piled around them.

“Hey, slow poke,” Tommy shouted at him. “First one back at HQ gets a prize.”

And like that, he rushed off, another laugh echoing in his wake, and not once burdened by the fact that Noh-Varr was still potentially the enemy. 

By the time he’d scrambled to his feet, Tommy had taken off. And Noh-Varr was all kinds of ready to chase him. He didn’t stand a chance, not against a speedster, but that didn’t matter. Stretching his legs felt amazing, chasing Tommy was amazing, everything made him pump with this vivacious feeling of being alive. It was completely ridiculous and wonderful.

Instead of the stairs of the building, he raced up the side of the building to where the kitchen window was still open from his earlier exploration. 

The Kree practically somersaulted into the room as Tommy came skidding in through the front door.

And there was a grin on Noh-Varr’s face.

Tommy screeched to a halt, sparing his face from colliding with Noh-Varr’s chest. Eyes wide, he blinked out of his surprise and laughed, his own chest barely heaving though the Kree’s was doing plenty of heaving for both of them.

“Shit, you’re fast,” he said. Granted, he had taken a longer route back, and stopped for a drink, but he still expected a good three minutes before Noh-Varr popped in with a defeated expression on his face.

The grin was a better suitor. Much better.

“We gotta race sometime again soon,” Tommy laughed, hands on his hips. “Let me guess. You crawled up the sides of the building, not at all paying attention to who could be watching?”

“Should I be? You’re running around without a care for secrecy, right?” Noh was breathing a little bit heavier than he liked, but it had been a long time since he’d last pushed himself so hard. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it, because the grin proved everything anyone needed to know about him right in that moment.

“You mentioned a prize? I think it’s fair we share it.”

The pulsing thrill turned hotter, and Tommy, for once, hesitated. Yet, with all warnings and bad advice that tumbled at his feet since he was young, he stepped over it without another thought.

His hands lifted, this time slower with purpose as the fingers dragged through Noh-Varr’s scalp. It was smooth, no bump or sign of incision, but that didn’t mean scars weren’t beneath the skin.

Their lips were centimeters apart, and Tommy already would bet all his pocket money that he could hold out longer than the Kree as they shared breath.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“That hasn’t been ascertained yet, I thought?” if it wouldn’t be entirely ridiculous, Noh would have tried to stretch his mouth forward to close the ridiculously small gap. He could taste Tommy’s breath on his lips, in his mouth, and he yearned for more, yearned for a stronger sample, even more of this impossible human that he’d have to work for.

“How about you stop complaining now, Tom-My. I think you’ve pointed out enough flaws for a day.”

Tommy would never admit it later, but he caved in. There was a frustrated sound as Noh-Varr stood his stiff ground and Tommy cracked, lunging forward to seal their mouths, his hands scrambling through the hair he couldn’t get enough of tugging and yanking.

The kiss was all raw tension pouring loose, mouths wet and sloppy, then lazier and focused. Tommy broke the kiss on multiple occasions to hold Noh-Varr’s stare, and whispering the Kree’s name before they were kissing again.

Tommy was a terrible planner, and it extended to his fumbling with tugging Noh-Varr’s head closer, then shoving it away, then yanking him closer again, and finally he had enough and said around a particularly messy kiss, “Bedroom.”

He didn’t need to be human to understand all of this. Tommy was easier to read than a picture book right now, with the wild tugging, shoving and all around greedy kissing as he wrestled with himself, the last shreds of whatever repressed control he still had over himself.

And finally, he was giving in. Finally, he no longer needed to put up that ridiculous barrier, with that one word, he broke the dam. It was all Noh-Varr needed to hear. For a moment, they wrestled for control, before the Kree gathered those hips he’d been daydreaming about up, lifting until Tommy’s feet no longer touched ground and finding the bedroom was a fumbling, wet, distracted affair.

Noh had the good sense to let himself fall backwards onto the bed though, so the speedster cradled in his grip landed astride on top of him, with absolutely no shred of shame left, Noh ground their hips together, giving a delighted grunt into the messy affair they called kissing.

Tommy had grunted and flailed at being lifted, still disliking not having his feet on solid ground, even if he had a mouth to distract him from the worst of his unease. Then the bed manifested and they were falling on it, Noh-Varr using the angle to grind their hips together.

A moan spilled forth and Tommy dropped the kissing to collect his wits. He tried to ask himself what the hell he was doing, but all that he heard was the more, more, more of his hammering heart.

With the skill becoming of a speedster, Tommy had Noh-Varr’s shirt stripped off. His hands greedily ate up the skin, stroking over, almost tender as he considered how often it had been under the abuse of humans.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, nails scratching down his arms. “I’m not sure you’re up to getting your way with me.”

The Kree beneath Tommy was pliant and willing to his touch, Tommy could rake his nails as hard as he could, it wouldn’t hurt. He was much tougher than that. But the light touch, almost tender in nature, was more effective than ramming a knife into Noh. He shuddered as the warm, no, hot fingers slid over his chest. For someone apparently only attracted to females, Tommy certainly was eager to feel the extent and layout of his muscles.

Rapidly hazing sky-blue hunted for emerald green as Noh realized the challenge in Tommy’s tone. Oh, so they were still playing this game, huh? He wondered for just a moment’s breath if Tommy dressed everything in his life in these little games, a denial of reality his safety net...

“Is that so, Tom-My? I think you’ll find your initial assessment very incorrect,” Noh’s hands travelled to those sharp, beautiful hips and grabbed, fingers scrabbling for purchase, powerful hands demanding ownership of the motions the speedster made. Their groins moved together in a clumsy but determined movement and Noh-Varr gave the lightest of grunts.

Something about the way Noh-Varr pronounced his name was doing all the right things to Tommy’s body. What doubts or denial that had kept him from the Kree’s powerful grip on his hips and mouth on his neck barely got a word out under the yes, yes, yes of Tommy’s pulse.

Tommy grunted as Noh-Varr moved his lower body this way and that, those strong hands on nature’s perfect handlebars. In retaliation, Tommy scratched harder down the Kree’s chest, aware it did little to actually harm him. Then his palms pressed over the dips and rises of Noh-Varr’s exposed upper body, marvelling at how just looking at it, let alone feeling it, made Tommy hungry for something he didn't know he could be hungry for.

“We’ll find out, but I’m almost never wrong,” Tommy said against Noh-Varr’s jaw, then lifted his head to study those bright eyes before looping his arms around his neck and kissing him more languidly, wanting to mark his territory with more meticulous attention.

The switch flicked inside of Tommy was possibly the best thing Noh-Varr would ever experience, he was pretty sure of it. Now that he’d settled with his own lust and stopped denying them both this pleasure. He was beginning to offer resistance, but the right kind, the friction between their bodies did nothing but build up his pyre.

“I think you’re very, very wrong right now,” the hands demanded skin contact now and there was no hesitation in pulling Tommy’s trousers away, not caring if the fabric tore beneath his greedy grip.

“And I am more than capable of having my way. With you.”

He sunk his mouth against Tommy’s neck, lips and teeth and tongue pressed to salty skin, trembling at his breath.

If someone had told Tommy he was capable of crying out like any other person, he’d have laughed in their faced. Even as a sweet sound that was certainly a cry left him as Noh-Varr assaulted a delicate patch of skin, Tommy wouldn’t admit to having heard it come from him.

All Tommy could do was hang on, possibly toss out a growl for the loss of his shredded clothing. Mourning for them could come later; Tommy’s hands were busy shoving and yanking, bullying Noh-Varr as they wrestled on bed and sucked on what skin they could.

“And,” Tommy panted between biting, “assuming I humor you, what is ‘your way’?”

“You’re really not good at interrogation,” Noh was only half-paying attention to the conversation by now, there was too much speedster to be unveiled to push his mind into caring for the words Tommy spoke. All he heard was what he needed, permission to let his desire run rampant, no more restraint necessary. Fingers sliding over thin hips, a firm stomach, delicately defined muscles. Noh moved his aim lower, bit into that expanse of muscles, found the sensitive part in form of a nub and barely resisted the temptation to bite down on it, harshly.

“You would fit so nicely around me, Tom-My,” there was little left between them, barriers erased, either by Tommy’s speedy fingers or by Noh’s impatient, crude and dismissive technique. And Tommy was definitely no longer capable of even pretending he didn’t like this, because his arousal was hard and heavy and practically beckoning for any kind of touch. 

Tommy shuddered at the words, prying away enough to have either leg anchor Noh-Varr’s hips and have his eyes stare down, gauging for something in the Kree’s heated expression. They were both hard, no denying that, and the denial would swarm back later. For now, Tommy saw and replayed the Kree’s face in his mind, the feeling of his hands.

With a grunt, he flopped onto his side, as Noh-Varr wouldn’t quite let go of him and couldn’t muster anything more graceful. He shifted enough for the Kree to get the point and roll onto his side as well. But when Noh-Varr looked ready to lunge on top of him, Tommy shoved his chest in warning.

He held the Kree’s eyes again, close enough for their lips to nudge.

At this point Tommy should have admitted he’d not done anything quite like this, and it was a petrifying sensation in that truth. Being who he was though allowed him to only stroke Noh-Varr’s jaw and say, “Don’t get cocky just because I’m on my back. Doesn’t mean anything.”

Only it did, especially when he dragged his nails down hard the sides of Noh-Varr’s spine and finally let the Kree settle between his spread, albeit quivering thighs.

This was, somehow, glorious. Noh-Varr had had sex before, he’d never been terribly impressed with act in itself, it had seemed a physical component of his relationship and a task to be completed, nothing more. But right now, settling between Tommy’s (also glorious) thighs and having the speedster laid out on his back, touching him with definite need, it was so much more than just an experience to be had. His body was pumping, straining to continue and he’d never felt this need before, this need to join bodies and feel someone so close, so entangled with himself. He wanted Tommy open for him, in more ways than one, he wanted there to be nothing, no clothing, no barriers between them anymore.

But he also wanted to take his time to really taste this moment, to let the fact that he was about to do this with Tommy of all people, and he might not get a repeat chance to do this. His hands traced over the muscles of the speedster’s legs, holding him steady, brushing upwards, massaging the flesh trembling beneath him. Fingers found purchase of Tommy’s ass, the firm globes fit so nicely into his palms.

“You look beautiful on your back though,” he breathed, eyes roving over Tommy, burning this image into his mind as he rolled his hips forward, bringing their hard flesh together and coaxing another moan from Noh’s parted lips.

Tommy hissed at the contact, the hands he had on Noh-Varr’s back biting down harder. To say he was blushing was an understatement, yet still one Tommy wasn’t going to humor and acknowledge. While he had indulged in his fair share of sex, there hadn’t been much to it other than the physiological need to get off. No connection, nothing.

And certainly no quivering limbs, a heart hammering so hard it might leap out of Tommy’s chest and land in Noh-Varr’s palm, no sudden skin sensitive to the slightest brush of the Kree’s hand, no chills of delight at being handled roughly for once.

With girls, they were softer, more careful, even when trying for foreplay. Noh-Varr was not like that in the slightest, and Tommy could shove hard and know the Kree could endure it, and even shove back.

When Noh-Varr complimented him, Tommy felt his cheeks explode.He turned away, looking at anywhere that wasn’t Noh-Varr as a new wave of shudders had him arching his back slightly.

“Less talking, more doing.”

Tommy’s wish was his command, and Noh was excellent at carrying out commands. With renewed dedication, he attacked his mouth, his jaw, his neck. Every part of Tommy needed to be marked, needed to show just how important he was to Noh-Varr, how eagerly he would possess this boy in every way possible. His hands explored the surprisingly familiar anatomy of a human. The Kree wasn’t a simpleton, he could figure out how this was going to work, which part of Tommy he could penetrate without harming the fragile human trapped beneath him on the bed. And still, he wasn’t entirely too careful when exploring Tommy’s sensitive nethers. His fingers ran over the aching erection, the purest evidence to the speedster’s desire. It sent something through him, that’s for sure, so Noh-Varr left one hand there, enfolding the warm flesh and giving it an experimental stroke, a little tug to see what Tommy would do. 

The other hand remained firmly curious of Tommy’s ass, followed the curve of it to the base of his spine, a place he rubbed lightly before trailing down to the goal of this exploration. He wouldn’t be able to work his fingers into there, at least not without some form of lubrication.

Tommy was all moans and grunts and curses. His poor hands were victims under Noh-Varr’s onslaught as well, grappling to cling to parts of muscle. He bit where he could, scratched when he had enough sense to, and always his body pressed and molded to each attack, challenging Noh-Varr to treat him rougher.

Noh-Varr seemed to have no reluctance to do just that, claiming what skin he could, his mouth utilized expertly for that task, and another day Tommy would appreciate the kind of marks a mouth could leave, the kind of sensations it could leave his core vibrating with.

“Noh,” he breathed at some point when he felt a large hand tugging on him. He hissed and his hips jerked, and then stilled at feeling Noh-Varr’s fingers get curious.

Tommy’s limbs went tauter at the implications, and his breath came a little harder. He stuffed down the sensation and trailed his hands up Noh-Varr’s arms, refusing to break the smirk on his face, though its effect was a bit lost with his hair tousled and face flushed.

“What do you want?” he asked, knowing the answer but finding a sense of power making the Kree say it.

The answer rushed out of Noh’s mouth without a second thought, because it was the only thing he could think about.

“You...I want you, Tom-My,” he breathed, allowing his hands to intensify their efforts, though he was increasingly aware of the need for some liquid, because Tommy wasn’t capable of producing any. Well, he was...Noh-Varr had an idea that required immediate translation, and he shrugged his way out of Tommy’s grip, let those desperate hands slid up over his body as he moved down with strategic purpose. His hand relinquished Tommy’s dick and grasped at his hips, his mouth finding an entirely new subject to utilize its skills with. 

Taking him into his mouth felt like a task that, theoretically, should be thankless, at least for him, but he felt his senses overwhelmed with Tommy’s taste and the feeling of his twitching and jerking, vibrating in his mouth as he dedicated himself to this attempt of a pleasurable act. Plus, now his mouth was close enough to discreetly share his saliva, the only liquid he had access to, with the problem his fingers had discovered earlier.

Noh-Varr had been shifting away, and Tommy grunted in protest, snatching up harder, but of course the Kree easily nudged his arms and hands aside, lowering his body until--

Tommy’s head flew back, eyes wide as he was struck with an overwhelming sensation of Noh-Varr’s mouth doing something incredible. From that point, any stifled sounds flew out of him at will, moans, sharp cries, deep groans, and his fingers found new purchase in the hair Tommy was fond of, burying deep into the strands while his thighs trembled to stay open.

A loud curse bounced off the wall, and Tommy both relished and loathed how undignified he felt, brought down by a mouth and hands keeping him down. His speedster skills were on the verge of betraying him, something Tommy would realize too late, as they would process all the data at record speed and shove it in his face.

“Fuck, wait,” Tommy forced out, the sound garbled by another cry. He yanked hard on the strands, telling what his voice could not. That already, and how embarrassingly soon was it, he was going to hit his orgasm.

Noh-Varr gave the flushed flesh another languid suck before he released it, Tommy’s pre-release already clinging to his lips. The Kree’s sky-blue hues moved up to Tommy’s face, regarding him with reverence and desire. 

“Are you done already, Tom-My?” there was mockery faint in his tone, another challenge, the last game to play for the two of them. He didn’t await an answer, mouthed down the speedster’s shaft and lower, biting places Tommy had probably never experienced before. Subtly, he let his fingers move through the liquid on his lips and added more of his own, silvery saliva. It wasn’t ideal, but he doubted Tommy cared.

A long, relieved groan was necessary once Noh-Varr released him, a fraction of it heavy with disappointment. An early release would have just spoiled things though, so Tommy remained splayed on his back, finding his breath, and offering small sounds as the mouth worked lower.

His eyes flicked down, not wanting to admit how arousing it was to have seen Noh-Varr’s mouth when he had dislodged. The mouth was doing something now, and when Tommy picked up on it, he worked his jaw and clung his gaze to the ceiling, heart pounding just a bit harder.

Before he could stop his own twinge of panic, it shot out of him in a low voice: “I’ve not done this before.”

“I assumed so,” Noh-Varr breathed against Tommy’s shaft, which he was working over lightly with his lips now as his fingers craved for a deeper knowledge of the speedster, so to say. The ring of muscle was tight with inexperience and unease, but the Kree’s digits were patient. Noh-Varr deemed Tommy undone enough to move back up, trailing bites and soothing kisses up the speedster’s prone form, relishing the moment enough to leave a bruising mark on Tommy’s hipbone. Whatever happened and however this turned out, he wanted and needed this to be remarkable for both of them.

“Trust me, Tom-My,” he muttered once he made it back to the speedster’s lips and finally, into the core of heat he’d been so eager to familiarize himself with. Slick fingers pried and moved, quick and urgent.

The kisses and bites did enough of a job to distract Tommy, but it was Noh-Varr’s firm tone, assuring and somehow still authoritative, that pinned the speedster down to the bed, capable of a meager nod that conflicted with what he normally would have done. 

He focused on Noh-Varr’s breath against his lips, his own fingers stroking the jaw, lightly scratching, or rubbing the base of his head where the hair began to grow. It was an oddly intimate way of cradling the Kree’s face, and Tommy had no bearing on realizing that.

His breath got hitched upon the first finger’s tip seeking entrance, and he had to force a long exhale as another joined it and both were pushing up into him. Hands on Noh-Varr gripped tighter, Tommy’s mouth pressed tight to muffle the sounds while his eyes screwed shut.

Despite the tension lining his upper body, his thighs spread further and his hips rolled and pressed down when those fingers sunk deeper.

On one particular eager thrust, Tommy’s cry poured loose, lost in Noh-Varr’s mouth as they kissed again. Tommy poured most of himself into the kiss, arms wrapping fully around broad shoulders, his mouth falling into a languid, almost sensual rhythm in lieu of his impatient ones.

But his impatience was still a trademark, and despite feeling not all that prepared for what was to happen, Tommy’s hands drifted down and gave Noh-Varr’s shaft a good stroke.

“Come on,” he said.

Preparing Tommy for the main ‘event’ was taxing, not because it was a particularly difficult task, but with every second some part of Noh spent inside of the speedster, his own impatience rattled at the bars of its cage. He wanted to sink into Tommy and remain there for a long moment, savour every breath he could be joined so closely with someone who stirred him to such heights of emotions he’d never previously known.

But when Tommy’s hand touched him, the surge was practically electric and it blew the doors off of said cage. His breath was baited as he drew back enough to view all of Tommy’s face. He didn’t want to miss a second of his reaction, wanted to remember this for months to come. The touch at the back of his skull was oddly intimate, as if Tommy couldn’t bear to have him away for more than a few inches right now. 

Noh-Varr tried his best to swallow the pure excitement and mingled impatience down as he positioned himself accordingly, one hand guiding Tommy’s hips into remaining still, awaiting this pivotal moment. He’d never dreamed everything could happen so quickly, but perhaps that was due to the speedy nature of the young man beneath him. Tommy didn’t live at the same pace as others.

Speaking of pace, his own was absolutely minimal for only a fraction. It was a brief, careful finding of how he fit into Tommy, then one long, continuous thrust into the awaiting heat. Noh-Varr let his eyes fall closed and he listened to the hammering of his own heart for just a moment as absolute pleasure coursed through him, straight from where he was buried in Tommy to his fingertips.

Tommy’s lungs had ceased functioning when he felt Noh-Varr’s stare and felt even more the pressure of him preparing to sink in. They were really doing this, and yet somehow it might as well have been a dream, void of consequences, void of the world beyond the room and what it would have to say about their behavior.

The ferocity of their locked gazes had Tommy go that much tenser, and then Noh-Varr was sinking in, and a soundless scream left the speedster’s mouth open, head thrown back, and back arching painfully.

Breath crashed back into him in a pained gasp. Fuck, it hurt. It wasn’t the kind of pain that prodded memories he wanted hidden to the forefront of his mind. There was a burn that was delicious as it was uncomfortable, and it wrenched out all sorts of breathless sounds from Tommy as Noh-Varr thrust to the hilt.

“Ah, shit,” Tommy panted, finding his voice buried beneath the pain and arousal. His back was still arched, hands digging into Noh-Varr’s biceps. His thighs felt incredibly heavy, like lead, and they could do nothing more than drape over the Kree’s hips, near slipping off.

Noh-Varr shifted and Tommy cried out. “Shit, wait!”

The snap didn’t come as harsh as he wanted, the pull from his arousal and muddled mind tearing down its viciousness. The skills of a speedster were working against him now, telling him, waving it in his face how ful he was, how every nerve felt as it accommodated Noh-Varr’s girth. Even their heartbeats bled into their breathing, overwhelming Tommy with sound, which was enough to put a fracture in his defenses.

“Oh, fuck, fuck,” he said and squeezed Noh-Varr harder. He didn’t like the dizziness, didn’t like that he couldn’t think beyond what his speedster-brain was soaking in. There was Noh-Varr and nothing else, and Tommy tried to squirm away. “No, I,” he swallowed, shutting his eyes so he didn’t have his vision impaired by Noh-Varr as well,” can’t. can’t do this...”

He knew it wasn’t a pleasurable sensation, at least not for both of them, but he didn’t want to impair Tommy’s pride, didn’t want to let him think he was sure of the fact the speedster could not handle this pain or this situation. But they were literally too far to turn back and if Noh wouldn’t be allowed to have what was being dangled in front of his face right in this moment, he was pretty sure life wasn’t going to offer him anything else worth living for.

“I have an idea,” he muttered, once more conquering Tommy’s mouth, though this time his tongue pushed past those abused lips with purpose and the Kree pulled as much concentration as he could from his still hips. The nanite control activation was something he hadn’t used in a very long time and he didn’t want Tommy to be entirely out of his mind. Just enough to take away the pain and hopefully, the rejection.

“Relax, Tom-My, it will not hurt.”

Tommy wanted to explain that’s not what he meant, that he was suffocating under sensory information, but then the Kree was in his mouth, doing...something.

Grunting, Tommy shoved him, protesting that something was going to be done without his consent. Then he felt a stirring, or was it a spreading, and Tommy shivered, yanking his mouth away. His back eased off the tension, air coming back into his lungs, and even his legs were capable of hoisting onto Noh-Varr without fear of melting off.

“What,” Tommy swallowed, searching for deceit in Noh-Varr’s eyes, “what did you do...? If you did something funny, I’m going to,” he grunted, eyes flying wide as a tingle of pleasure surprised him. He tried to scowl at being interrupted, but his head was tilted back again, arm thrown over his eyes as his hips rolled and pushed down again, wanting to feel that sensation again.

It was quite the reaction to behold, actually, it might be the best one he’d ever seen in response to his nanites. Tommy’s pain and irritation all but melted away, the tension easing from his limbs, even his lungs and the lithe, beautiful body beneath Noh’s own was moving, demanding and taking without any effort on his part. This was a much better way of their joining and Noh took the pleasure of moving into a rhythm older than time, a dance known across species with effortless grace. Tommy was so warm around him, his scent, the musk of a human male mixed with the light sweat was mingling in Noh’s nose, creating an intoxicating memory, one he’d hold as close as he was cradling the boy’s body right now. 

Another movement, this one deeper, drawing so much fire from his own loins that Noh couldn’t help groaning the boy’s name, however strange and alien it rolled off of his tongue.

This was more than he’d hoped for, more than the mounting tension between them could have ever promised to him.

“I took your pain away...nanoactive...please just...scold me later,” he muttered, biting at Tommy’s lips.

Tommy heard the words, stored them, and that was it. The time to shout and bludgeon the Kree’s chest with his fists would come later. As the effect of the Kree’s trick stripped Tommy bare, out for Noh-Varr to rake his eyes over and pry into his secrets.

And the noise. Tommy would never come to terms with how loud he was. Moaning, groaning, demanding for more, for it to be harder, faster, then slower again, and the humiliating sounds that could only be called mewls, and the sweet cries that were giving the walls plenty to listen to.

Until now Tommy had concealed his eyes, and now the arm was shoved aside, forcing their gazes to meet. Tommy leaned closer, kissing Noh-Varr with a fervor that matched that of his hips, gut coiling and burning and already warning him of his hovering orgasm.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, because he could, and the name felt right coming out in a gasp, again and again.

Tommy’s hands scrambled over the strength of his back, then clawed at his backside so the Kree’s thrusts became shallow and hard. Like before, his hands ultimately danced back up to strokes along the Kree’s jaw, his lips, the back of his neck, not quite kissing but enough to share breath.

“I want to feel it,” he said, pressing a deep kiss before he explained his words meaning by clenching his body tighter around each thrust.

The way Tommy held him prisoner so close to his own face was mesmerizing to Noh-Varr and he could barely remember to burn all of his impressions into his mind. Tommy was everywhere, his taste in his mouth, his scent in his nose, his moans and mewls music to his ears, his beauty laid out in front of Noh’s eyes, and his heat embracing him ferociously. His heart might suffer a fatal deficiency if it continued to pump so furiously, as if it wanted to break free of his chest.

He couldn’t compete with the speedster for noise, but his hips did a fine job of satisfying their mutal need for pace and strength. If Noh could, he would sink deeper into this beautiful boy, he would make a new home inside of Tommy and let the rest of the universe pass him by. Something worth fighting for, Tommy had said earlier. This right here, this pressuring need to be one, to hold Tommy until this planet turned into nothing but space debris once more, this was it. For him. 

Tommy’s demand was a final signal, one that pulled him from the endless high of enjoying the thrusts into the young man. This ride had to come to an end, every fall ended with an impact. And Noh would make sure Tommy felt this, just as he wished for. He’d feel it, commit it to memory and let it set the standard for any and all lovers he’d choose to take in the future.

It wasn’t instantaneous, but Noh certainly didn’t take long to hit his orgasm, an affair he graced with a deep rumbling in his chest that turned into a moan, a long crescendo of relief and bliss.

Noh-Varr was a beautiful alien, a spectacle that could be ogled at by hours, and had been by those that didn’t appreciate him properly. Tommy did though, without knowing he did, in the way he stroked and cradled Noh-Varr’s neck, the way he moaned the Kree’s name as if it were the source of all his pleasure.

They held gazes for as long as they could, Tommy planting chaste kisses between each thrust that would have had him sliding and bumping into the headboard were it not for Noh-Varr’s hold on him. It was a hold around him Tommy, that little Tommy from years ago, craved and also spurned, scowling at those that needed such tenderness. 

Needing anyone was a weakness, and Tommy was weak, throwing his arms around the Kree, buried under that flaw of wanting someone to want him, and maybe staying around when they had sucked him dry.

It was that thought and the following sensation of more heat blooming in him when Noh-Varr let himself loose, going stiff, hips lazily thrusting once the bulk of his orgasm left him. Tommy had arched and clung harder then, the Kree’s name garbled as he finally let loose, let all of him let go in that one biological act that had him dragging Noh-Varr impossibly closer against him, in him.

And then it was over in the time it took for Tommy to collapse back as limp as noodles, breath heavy, but legs still hugging Noh-Varr to him.

The physical pleasure itself ebbed away faster than the implications all of this had to Noh’s mind. He stayed close to Tommy, unable to bring himself to pull away, or out of the boy. He didn’t know how humans behaved after something like this, but his instinct was keeping him as close as possible. Tommy looked...as if he’d either just been through a fight with at least twenty opponents, or just really heavily pleased in bed. Noh forced his heartrate to slow down to a more acceptable level as he gathered his breath. White strands obscured his vision, but he was too imobilized to move them. He wanted to stare at Tommy, he wanted to drown in the seagreen of his eyes for now and shut the world out for the rest of his existence. Tommy was beyond beautiful, and he was far beyond the perfection Noh had accused him of earlier. The Kree looked his reason to carry on in the face, and he couldn’t help the post-coital bliss brushing a smile onto his lips.

“Not up to fulfilling your expectations, huh?”

Tommy hummed, blinking blearily, and it was a shame his speedster-ingrained abilities sobered him up quicker than he liked.

“What? Oh. I don’t care right now,” Tommy said, bringing his arms up and letting his hands wander down Noh-Varr’s back. It felt good, that much he could say, feeling him still inside. 

Hands paused over the bulk of his backside and he pulled him a little closer, encouraging him to give into a few lazy thrusts. Tommy groaned and kissed him, bit lightly on his lower lip, not just yet lucid enough to shove him off and accuse him of using whatever it was that he had used to force Tommy into a more docile submission.

His hand cupped one side of Noh-Varr’s face, fingertips dragging over his jaw. Then reality crept into his mind and he blinked hard, head falling onto a pillow. Now Tommy could feel every bite mark and hickey pulsing.

“God, I’m in a lot of trouble,” he muttered, then grunted at Noh-Varr’s mouth burying in his neck. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Guess it wasn’t the worst lay I ever had.”

Quite the antithesis, yet Tommy might as well have admitted to it as his calves brushed along Noh-Varr’s legs and hips, hand pressing to his head to encourage him to leave another mark.

The Kree needed no permission or encouragement to mark Tommy as his own, and the other multiple marks were not proof enough. He didn’t want this to be the only time they got to be this close, didn’t want this to be the only memory he had of sharing himself so deeply with the speedster.

Even his skin was intoxicating now as he worked to bruise it a dark red, nearly purple colour. Only satisfied once the young man began flinching away from his mouth, Noh drew back enough for Tommy’s hand to slide over his neck and cheek once more.

“It was the best one I’ve had,” he grinned at the speedster with unashamed honesty.

“Oh.” Tommy blinked again, the words warming him, and somehow terrifying him. 

Shoving Noh-Varr, Tommy grunted as they dislodged, feeling in need of a shower soon. His sheets were soon to be stained though from whatever dribbled between his thighs, and he struggled with a blush not to think what it was exactly that was dribbling.

It was too much to sit up, so Tommy settled for stretching out on his side, unsure what to make of Noh-Varr’s arm looped around his waist. Hesitantly, like a wild cat reluctant to break away from the aloof lifestyle that had thus far served it well, Tommy nestled into the chest, frowning.

“Kind of thought,” he began, keeping any and all emotion from his voice, “you’d be quick to leave. You know. Slam, bam, thank you ma’am.”

“And where would I go?” Noh-Varr muttered into his neck, feeling content with himself for the first time in a long, long while. Tommy’s body was slightly sticky with sweat, mingled with his own, but he did not care. The warmth against him was mirrored in his chest, a slow, tender flame that had him yearning for sleep and hours of comfort.

“I wasn’t speaking literall-nevermind,” Tommy sighed and rubbed his face, rolling as far onto his back as he could. “What are we doing, Noh-Varr?”

The question was stale, something a more ‘responsible’ member of his team would say. “And what I mean by that,” he said, knowing he had to elaborate with the Kree, “is...”

What did he mean? Tommy knew, he couldn’t fool himself. He wanted to play this off as a good lay, nothing more. They weren’t a couple, Noh-Varr was an alien, and...things just never worked out nicely for Tommy and that was fine with him.

“I’ve never really been with anyone,” he said, and that’s not what he intended to say in the slightest, but that crack in his wall must have been wider than he imagined. “And it’s probably best not to start. You’ll say no, we’ll fuck a few times, and then you’ll realize there are better things out there. Better people.”

The last part he said with a grunt, forcing himself to sit up and not look at Noh-Varr.

He wanted to argue, wanted to share with Tommy the warmth still curdling in his stomach, wanted to let the young man know that he doubted there was anything better than what he’d found on this entire world. But he didn’t. Tommy didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t have to be human to depict what the young man was saying clearly. Tommy may have opened to him, in so many ways, but it was a singular occasion. He was not ready to embrace Noh-Varr’s presence as a permanent fixture in his life, wasn’t even ready to allow the Kree an opinion on this matter. 

“It is your choice, Tom-My,” he sounded tired now, stricken with the severity of Tommy’s implied meaning, his words giving finality to his opinion and conclusion of their encounter, “...but you should know that...I need your presence. At least...allow me to gain a foothold in this life. If not at your side, at least...in your company.”

Tommy whirled at him, mouth opening to spew curses or insults or something that would rattle the Kree and get him the hell off his back and out of his life and out of his head.

But nothing came out and Tommy snapped his mouth shut or else look like a bigger moron than he was already feeling like. He took in Noh-Varr in a full second, the mass of his body, the contrasting tenderness in his eyes, something Tommy wouldn’t have thought possible to creep in after the trauma of experimentation had abandoned the Kree to a fortress of cold, raw fury.

Tenderness he directed at Tommy.

“No one likes me,” Tommy said, more as a reminder to himself.

He blew out a hard breath and lowered himself, half draped on Noh-Varr.

“Move your ass,” he said, then yanked the sheets to cover their legs. “Don’t. Just....shut up a moment.” He inhaled again and settled against Noh-Varr. “Don’t let it go to your head. I do what I feel like and that’s all.” 

And he wanted Noh-Varr around, fuck what anyone thought about that.

Somehow, Noh-Varr doubted that he was just a whim on Tommy’s behalf, there had been too much tension built up too quickly between them to be a random, fluctuating mood. But Tommy knew that, or at least, he was aware of it in some crevice of his mind. Nestled into Noh’s arms, the speedster felt like a missing piece, or some sort of new, iconic device of hope. Amazing, how emotional humans could be, how positively afflicted he himself could still feel. 

The bitter taste of incarceration had not left his mind, but right now, it was muffled, hidden behind this warmth that had nothing to do with the blanket and everything to do with the lithe body, fit so snugly against his own. Noh lowered his face to settle into snowy hair as he closed his eyes. He could live like this.


	4. Chapter 4

Hours later, noise outside of the room roused the Kree from his well-earned rest. Tommy had shifted to press his face into Noh’s chest, arm lazily looped over Noh’s side and perfectly adjusted to the Kree’s embrace of his form.

The noise was coming closer and turning into voices, vaguely familiar ones at that. They had not entered the HQ yet, but the inevitable and imminent arrival had Noh shaking Tommy gently.

“Tom-My, your team is returning. Right now.”

Tommy grunted, the most he was willing to comply. Eyes snapped open fractions of a blink later, and Tommy was out of the room with the skill becoming of someone dubbed Speed.

Showering and changing left Tommy flustered, face pink from the hot water. A pause at the mirror told him a shirt wouldn’t do. He was as marked up as a lepper, and there was no room to indulge in the good feelings he had seeing them there.

Tommy yanked on a high-collared sweater and zipped onto the couch, feigning interest in a television show just as Billy and Teddy wandered in.

“Oh, hey,” Tommy said, quirking a brow. “I’m not dead if you care. Neither is the Kree blowing shit up.”

Already Billy was narrowing an eye at him, a shroud of suspicion always looming over him when Tommy was concerned. 

“Where is he?”

Tommy jerked his head toward the hallway. “Showering last I heard. He just got up a bit ago.”

Noh-Varr had handled Tommy’s rapid departure as a sign to make himself presentable and possibly not wander around undressed with the satisfied air of someone who’d recently sated his physical needs. The voices were mingling in a conversation by the time he exited the room, clad only in a loose pair of trousers that hugged his hips just barely and a towel over his shoulders.

All eyes in the room turned to him and he could feel the burning lingering stares, but they did little to make him feel uncomfortable. These gazes weren’t dissecting, rather flattering actually. He didn’t have to worry about any marks, after all, Tommy would have to chew at his skin in effort to make them after all.

“I require more clothing...” he announced to the round, nonchalantly drying his hair.

Tommy pursed his lips. Of course Noh-Varr would strut around like a sculptor's dream, unaware that it was doing anything to the speedster’s already sensitized gut. Just one more itch Tommy had to address later. Maybe. Probably not.

“Uh, my clothes would probably fit,” Teddy supplied, first to smooth over the tension that had manifested out of the Kree’s arrival alone.

Tommy shrugged, forcing his gaze away. A stare was stabbing him so he looked up to find his twin glancing between them.

“What?” he snapped at Billy. Tommy splayed his arms over the couch’s lip, a tactic to bring the shirt collar higher up and conceal the marks. Hopefully.

“Everything...okay then?” Billy was asking Noh-Varr, but somehow Tommy thought he was the center of what had the witch scan the room as if searching for signs of infidelity. 

Noh-Varr didn’t dignify either of them with a response, he didn’t feel as if they were even addressing him personally. And even if they were, what could he offer them? Yes, he was alright, because he’d just shared something amazing with the one human that had given him hope for a betterment of life on earth? Somehow, he figured that Tommy would appreciate that honesty even less than a punch in the face right now. 

The Kree moved from the center of the room towards the kitchen, scouting for anything edible left at all.

“...So you’re feeling a lot better, are you?” Kate, who had been quietly appreciating the man’s physique now that he was no longer a threatening presence and rather just a nice eyeful, addressed him quite clearly.

“I am. Tom-My has clarified that my initial response of world domination may not be the most appropriate reaction to my recovery...though I am curious as to why you have all come here.”

The pronunciation of Tommy’s name earned him another dubious look from Billy, which the speedster shrugged off, shaking his head as if saying that was how Noh-Varr was and there was no helping his silly Kree mind.

“We wanted to make sure everything was fine,” Teddy said. In his arms he cradled clothing, which he draped over the couch for Noh-Varr. 

“More like they wanted to make sure I hadn’t screwed up, given that that’s my motto in their eyes.”

Billy rolled his eyes and scoffed. “We’re hiding a Kree and you say that? We have every right to be wary...though I can’t say I agree with Cap or someone just taking him away.”

Tommy nodded, pleased that reason was still capable in their heads.

“Hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to be staying long,” Tommy said, venturing to determine how long he had to put up with his team. 

Granted, he was all for his team, but with them loitering, the tension between him and Noh-Varr (or was it something else) felt suffocated by their presence. Tommy jumped his gaze to all of them, gesturing for someone to say something.

Kate sighed and shrugged one shoulder. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yep. I’m doing pretty good at keeping a Kree around. I even clean up after him.” Tommy startled internally as a rush of blood tried to hit his face, thinking over the words ‘clean up’ and what Tommy had to wash out from inside him just moments ago.

Kate’s mouth worked to one side in that way that told Tommy she wasn’t convinced, as if she could smell there was something going on. Her eyes drifted to Noh-Varr in the kitchen, or what could be seen of him, and then back to Tommy.

“Uh,” Teddy was saying.

Tommy turned his head at the blonde, frowning at the perplexed look. “What?”

Teddy blinked and seemed to consider something, then said, “No. Nothing. Um, we were thinking about what we should do next.”

“Nothing. Noh-Varr is proving himself to not be a threat. I just think we need a few more days of laying low and then we can be sure we can, I don’t know, figure out how he can start a new life.”

Those words seemed to tickle something unsettling in the team, but they had nothing viable to argue against the point. After all, none seemed inclined to lock up the Kree as much as they were reluctant to put their sociopathic speedster in charge of him.

“Yeah,” Kate said. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Tommy could tell they weren’t going to leave anytime soon by how they settled around into the room, Billy drifting into the hallway as if to find evidence of an uprising. Tommy wrinkled his nose and made up some excuse about being sure Noh-Varr didn’t burn down the kitchen.

Zipping in there brought him a perfect view of the Kree’s back and the dip where a towel concealed the rest. Tommy swallowed and then dashed around so he was between the counter and Noh-Varr.

“Looks like they’re not leaving too soon,” he said in a low voice, eyes narrowing at Noh-Varr’s not-that-concerned face. 

Tommy cursed his stupid face and leaned forward, sharing a chaste kiss that had tingles shooting down into his toes. He grunted as they parted, squeezing a bicep like he had done forever ago it seemed. 

“They can’t know,” he added, now cursing himself as he indulged in another quick, hard press of lips. It was easier to convince himself it was for Noh-Varr’s sake more than his own. “Got it?”

Noh-Varr was much more occupied with the brief bursts of feeling Tommy against his lips, the way the speedster’s body fit so nicely between his own and the counter. Noh would quite gladly forget they weren’t alone and revisit what they’d shared mere hours before. His arms found the counter on either side of Tommy, boxing him in and crowding himself closer. 

“Why can’t they know?” he breathed, voice low, face close to burying itself in Tommy’s neck once more, perfectly willing to refresh the bruising marks that carried memory of every second they had spent together. 

There was a delight pumping through Tommy knowing his team was nearby while Noh-Varr advanced on him with limited control, even if Tommy's speedster skills would prevent their being caught so brazenly. 

"Because I'm the sociopath of the group," Tommy whispered, and guided on large hand to graze the soft skin of his hip beneath his shirt, then to cup his backside. "Would be too much trouble even for me if they thought I was doing this with a potential threat to the world."

Tommy was speaking and his mind was alert to his team's presence, but it was all white noise as far as his body was concerned. It was entranced with Noh-Varr, pressing them closer so Tommy could linger in some quiet, lazy kisses. 

"It's not up for discussion," he said in the gap between a kiss. "Instead of worrying about that, why not focus on convincing them to get lost."

To further plump up the implication, Tommy quickly undid a button and dragged aside enough of his collar. With a smirk he cradled Noh-Varr's jaw then neck, leading the Kree to work on abusing his skin again. 

"Sooner they're gone," Tommy gasped, lowly, and angled his head better. "Sooner I'd be gifting you the chance to let your fingers be somewhere else..."

Noh-Varr was reduced to a primal growl rumbling through him, caution thrown to the wind as Tommy revealed his neck, his gloriously bruised neck, and commanded him to silently leave yet another mark. The Kree let one hand remain firmly on Tommy’s backside, feeling the familiar curve as if he had all the leisurely time in the world for this, the other hand travelling beneath Tommy’s shirt, exploring plains of skin...and they all belonged to him. Tommy belonged to him, and he already knew they were both aware of it.

The way the human was playing with him right now, playing with the animalistic urges surging through Noh at the slightest contact...It did things to his self-control he never thought possible. The kitchen counter and cabinet gave a little noise as his hips ploughed forward in search of Tommy’s, Noh’s muscular form trembling with the thickest veil of restraint he could muster right now. When Tommy’s body refused him the friction he craved, Noh growled, other hand dropping to Tommy’s thigh and hoisting the boy up until the speedster was seated on the counter, thighs spread with Noh-Varr bullying himself into the space.

Somewhere in the living room, Kate raised a perfect eyebrow. Tommy had been gone for five minutes and there was no shouting from the kitchen, nor could she hear any dishes cluttering. The only audible sign that the two men in there were alive came in form of a dull, hard thump and something that sounded like hissing or growling.

The archer looked over to Billy, knowing he’d been the most suspicious about leaving his sort of twin brother alone with the Kree. Kate shook her head lightly and lowered her voice.

“What do you think they’re doing in there?”

Tommy had hissed, both when Noh-Varr proved ruthless against his neck and when he had been forced onto the counter. 

Another time, Tommy would have put up a bigger fight until the Kree proved he wasn't relinquishing hold on his dominance and that Tommy did indeed already belonged to him. With the team beyond the room, Tommy was keening in on sounds. 

Tommy grabbed Noh-Varr through his towel, felt the swelling bulge. A good angle and his backside pushed against it. 

And then in a wink Tommy was dashing away, by the stove preparing to chop up some vegetables. 

Just before Billy marched in, Tommy threw over his shoulder, "That's for using your nanites on me."

Billy frowned and stared at the two. Noh-Varr was practically growling or gaping or some combination at Tommy. Nothing seemed broken. 

"Are you two planning to join in on the discussion anytime soon?"

The Kree grunted in response to the outrageous answer Tommy had the audacity of providing him with. He had an urgent problem now, the swelling beneath the towel nowhere as fast as Tommy to disappear, the touch and taste of the speedster lingering heavy on his mind and senses.

“You are cruel, Tom-My,” he grunted once more, hand moving down to roughly handle himself into looking a little less desperate. 

He wheeled around then, nearly knocking down Tommy’s twin, who just about reached his chest. This one had darker hair and somehow, a softer edge to him. None of the resolute defenses that Tommy had lingered on this one and it wasn’t helped in the least when the boy turned a bright scarlet at the proximity to his bare skin.

Noh-Varr really didn’t want him to notice the arousal he was trying to fight down, but Billy had already bumped into him, along the full length of his body.

Tommy had cast a smile at the Kree in response, and it fell dead when he tapped into what had just unfolded before his eyes. Billy had bumped straight into Noh-Varr, the stupid witch, and there was no misunderstanding what the blush suffusing his cheeks meant.

There was nothing Tommy could do but steel himself for the worst and--

Billy cried out, eyes glued to Tommy. His eyes were not on the speedster’s face though.

“That...!”

Tommy frowned and analyzed the line of sight.

SHIT. Tommy opened his mouth, hand defensive as it slapped over the hickey he hadn’t been able to keep out of sight.

Billy’s shout broke into a higher pitch one, shoulders tense, eyes bulging, and of course the commotion from his mouth had Kate and Teddy catapulting in, preparing for some grisly truth.

“I can’t believe it,” Billy shouted, seeming stuck on the notion of keeping his voice elevated.

“What are you talking about?” 

That’s right. Shrug it off, just like anything else.

“You two!” Billy looked ready to stomp his foot like. His fingers flailed between the two, gesturing to some unseen thread that tied Tommy and Noh-Varr together. Billy had felt the bulge of Noh-Varr’s, was mortified even, and his mind raced to slap a reason for it.

Then, the hickey. Deep, bruised, and that was all that had set Billy off.

“What’s going on?” Kate asked, her voice sharp as she took in Billy’s gesticulating. 

Teddy only sighed and glanced up, as if he had already known the severity of the situation before Billy had confirmed it.

“We are not!” Tommy shot back, far more bitter than he hoped. Too defensive just made him look guilty.

“You are! You are, I see the freaking hickey on you!”

“Hickey?” Kate asked, eyes on Tommy.

“You’re messing around with,” Billy trailed off, shut his mouth, then opened it again tugging on his hair, “what the hell, Tommy?!”

Well, the shouting and sudden unwanted attention certainly had one positive side effect for Noh-Varr as his arousal thanks to Tommy’s teasing dissipated entirely and he regained control over some embarrassing bodily functions. 

The accusations began flying their way and the Kree was honestly confused as to what the witch was implying. Messing around? Did those words have special connotation? Tommy was defensive and denying whatever it was his twin seemed so shocked to have discovered.

And what on earth was a hickey? The Kree tightened the grip of his towel, he really ought to have gotten dressed before this disaster unfolded.

“I do not understand, have I done something wrong?” Maybe he’d get credit for his alien innocence and throw the conversation into a different direction.

“You,” Billy yelled, now the foreman for the accusations, “what the hell are you thinking doing...doing that stuff with him?” He pointed to Tommy for emphasis.

Tommy slapped the hand away, standing between them, forcing Billy’s glower on him. “He isn’t from around here, first off, so get off his back! Two, we weren’t doing anything, but if we were, it’s not your goddamn business. I’m not a kid and I am a responsible member of the team too!”

Yelling was not Tommy style, not on these kinds of matters. Billy was stomping on a nerve though, resurfacing memories of everyone in Tommy’s life that saw him as a thug, a lowlife that could never be trusted. Even now, as a superhero who was hungry to do it all right, people scorned him and expected him to turn villain any moment.

“Guys,” Teddy started, hands up in peace.

“No,” Tommy snapped, eyes never leaving Billly. “Just say it. You think I’m going to screw up.”

“I didn’t think you were going to screw him.”

Tommy’s hackles lifted. “Noh-Varr is my responsibility and I’m doing just fine without your help! Maybe you just can’t handle the fact that I don’t need your mommying, that I’m not the fuck-up you think I’ll become.”

This was a matter that had long since left the realm of his and Tommy’s physical state. The speedster’s agitation was translating him into an alert state, muscles tightening, readying themselves for a fight or some sort of violent repercusion. Clearly, Tommy’s body and the choices he made with and for it were of great interest to this Billy, though the Kree could not fathom why. Was Tommy not a free man? A superhero, even? Noh had thought, from the explanation he still remembered, that Tommy’s morality and integrity were beyond question since achieving this status, but things did not appear to be in the logical order he’d accepted.

The argument unfolded in front of him and Tommy moved himself between them, Noh-Varr recognizing his act as one of defense, protection even. Now, if he’d understood what the argument was actually about, he would have insisted on holding his own position, he was never one to stand back and let someone defend him, but this meant much, much more to Tommy than he could fathom and he picked up on that vibe.

The twin humans seemed to take a moment’s breath to glare at each other, hard, with the tension in the kitchen passing into the extremely uncomfortable.

“Tom-My has told me of what it is your team does,” he threw into the sudden silence, feeling the weary eyes turn to glare at him, “I don’t wish to...cause you problems, but he has shown me that humans...humanity, deserves a second chance. He did so in just one day and that is something you should be respecting, not defacing.”

Billy gaped at the words, not willing to accept them yet. They fermented and still he struggled to accept Noh-Varr, this alien that had all but killed them even if it was not of his own volition, was saying such things. And about Tommy.

Meanwhile Tommy’s tension ebbed at the words, eyes glancing back to meet Noh-Varr’s stare. Jaw clenching, he knew now things would be thick and weary among the team if it wasn’t settled here and now, and Tommy was never one to postpone regardless of the outcome.

So he stepped back and, heart hammering in his throat, thread his fingers with Noh-Varr.

“Noh-Varr is not some psycho. I would know,” Tommy said, chin up. “The guy’s lonely, has no family, no where to belong. You all can understand that feeling.” And him best, but he left that go unvoiced, but everyone seemed to pick up on it. “I like Noh-Varr, and he’s turned to me to help him out. I wouldn’t be a good superhero if I turned him away, would I?”

There was much to be said about Tommy’s interpretation of a hero’s duty, because screwing an alien certainly had never been on any of their lists of things that would help save others. But his words rang true in what he didn’t voice. Tommy was just a lonely, always had been since the moment he got on this boat. And he’d been imprisoned, more than once, granted, the second time was rather brief, but the first half of his life had seen too many cell walls. They should have known something like this would happen and yet no one had dared to make that line of thought.

“Right...so...you’re, uh, seeing each other, now?” Kate raised the point delicately, because whilst Tommy had clarified the reason for the obvious connection happening here, he was clenching Noh-Varr’s hand as if he was confessing to some conservative parents that he was running away with the strange alien boy he’d found to elope.

Noh-Varr looked down at where his fingers entangled with Tommy’s, fascinated by how hard the human was gripping him right there. He’d been right in assuming this mean a whole lot more to Tommy than anyone let on and somehow, he was now a part of it. He squeezed the hand trembling in his own, wanted to tug the speedster into a protective embrace and whisper him promises of taking him away from this world that didn’t seem to appreciate either of them.

“I will stay wherever Tom-My chooses to be.”

Tommy nodded, whether it was at Kate’s question or Noh-Varr’s comment could be argued in a debate. 

“He’ll stay here for now.”

Teddy softened his face, almost looking like he wanted to smile. “Eventually though--”

“I know, I’m not stupid. He’ll have to...you know, be known about to Cap and whatever, but if they have a problem with Noh-Varr, they have a problem with me. They have no right to look down on him when their own members have screwed over the world before.”

Tommy snorted and straightened, courage building as Noh-Varr held his hand. “Now, we’ve had a long ass morning adjusting our guest here,” he used the word to drive the point home, “so, if you don’t mind, we’re going out for some much needed decent food and fresh air. Or mind. I don’t give a damn if you do since we’re going either way.”

And with that, he yanked Noh-Varr forward, using part of his speed abilities to have them rushing past the group and locking them in the room he used as his own.

Noh-Varr had the sense and reflexes to grab the clothes Teddy had brought as Tommy dragged him along, so at least he wouldn’t be stuck in a towel for said going out that had already been announced.

He didn’t say anything about the whole confrontation, didn’t say anything about Tommy standing up for him, risking his own position on the team that was probably all he had for an alien he’d known for maybe two days at most.

Instead, the Kree dressed himself and sent Tommy one long, appraising look. So much for that debate they had right after that heavenly sex. Tommy already declared his allegiance and it did nothing but feel good to Noh.

“Your words were much appreciated, Tom-My.”

“So, that just happened,” the awkward comment came from Cassie, who really hadn’t said much at all during all of this even though both Eli and her had entered the scene before the whole throwdown in the kitchen took place.

“...Is it a thing in your family to date aliens? No offense Teddy.”

Billy scrubbed his face hard and groaned. “This can’t end well,” he said.

Kate chuckled and rested a hand on his shoulder, molding over some of the tension. “Tommy’s a big boy and a lot tougher than you might think. However, it’s sweet how much you worry about him,” she laughed at Billy’s stunned look, “and don’t even try to blow that off. You are just worried about him.”

Tommy heard none of that, wouldn’t have cared all that much as he leaned against the wall to observe Noh-Varr change. The view was nice, so sue him.

Then their eyes met and hesitance prickled over Tommy’s arms, but he willed them to reach out and rest on the alien’s biceps. He leaned close and kissed him, parting his mouth for whatever Noh-Varr wished to do to his mouth, his tongue, his breath.

When they parted, lips nudging lips, Tommy said, “I told you. I do what I want.”

And how he hated how much he wanted something, wishing he could be that guy who didn’t need a damn thing but air to get by.

He stroked the Kree’s neck and said, “And I want your pain in the ass self.”

Aware the team was yards beyond the door, Tommy tugged on Noh-Varr’s pants so their crotches could bump. “You should undress again.”

That arousal he’d forced away earlier came back with startling vengeance, causing him to shift his crotch to a more comfortable, tightly fitting position against Tommy’s lips curving into an all but condescending smirk.  
“Don’t you think I’ve spent enough time naked for you?” the teasing tone was one he’d remembered Tommy using during their little games, which seemed to be the key to getting underneath Tommy’s skin in only the best sense.

“I think you could persuade me to suit your whims, Tom-My. Now that you are seeing me, which I’m not quite sure means what exactly?”

Tommy chuckled and smiled, surprised how genuine it felt and how his heart fluttered in his chest as much as it was pounding against its cage. His fingers danced down the Kree’s arms, along his sides, and dragged over his upper thighs.

“Hm. Persuasion, huh?” Tommy clicked and took three steps back, stretching so his shirt lifted and exposed the expanse of his naval. 

It was too easy, and Tommy wasn’t one for stretching out his needs that long. In a flurry of movements, he was stripped himself, perched at the end of the bed, legs drawn up and looking casual, ignoring the view he was providing Noh-Varr or the flush that burned up his skin.

“I could put my clothes on right now and you wouldn’t even have the time to blink and know it happened.”

“No thank you, I would prefer you stay this way,” Noh-Varr was quick to strip the fresh clothing back off, already the part of his anatomy that had gotten them into trouble before this was standing to attention, greedy to taste Tommy with all his senses once more. Noh swept over him like a tidal wave, dragging Tommy along beneath him as he assaulted the glorious body already marred with so many of his marks. Noh-Varr revisited each one and intensified it, systematically working his way lower. He was very eager to make Tommy lose restraint again, and he remembered a sure fire way to do so. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted the assembled team to hear just how much a connection the two of them shared.

“Tom-My,” he groaned against the speedster’s stomach, sky-blue eyes full of rampant desire, “I want to taste you...may I proceed?”

Tommy groaned and squirmed under the attention, less resisting the sensations and more riding them, telling himself this was okay because he was still in charge. He was the master and Noh-Varr the pliant servant eager to please him with his hands, his mouth, his tongue, the way he purred his name.

Between his legs, Tommy watched Noh-Varr slink closer to his goal. Tommy dragged his fingers through his hair.

“If you do that, we’re not going to get far in this quick rompy,” he said, though being on the receiving end of a blow job was just one more task Tommy would have the Kree perform at his later discretion. 

For now, Tommy wiggled down to adjust their heights on the bed, grasping Noh-Varr firmly before a protest or whine, not that the Kree would whine, tumbled out of him. Tommy smirked from below, providing a few slow, then quick strokes.

“My ideas are better,” he said, and without preamble, guided one of Noh-Varr’s hands down and sunk one thick digit into him, his muscles greeting the intrusion, still lax and sated from both the sex and shower.

How could anyone resist this temptation? Tommy was practically doing all the preparation for him, even moving on his finger and giving him these absolutely deadly little mewls that Noh-Varr might just be willing to declare war on an entire galaxy for.

“Your terms are acceptable for now, Tom-My,” he busied his mouth at Tommy’s neck, moved up to his ear where he let his breath ghost over the shell before his tongue followed the delicate trail. Every part of Tommy was enticing, every part of this human was perfect enough to drive the Kree mad with desire.

His hand began to be impatient, searching around inside of the speedster. Again, they did not have any convenient method of making this act...smoother. Lubrication was something he was going to have to obtain for regular use.

Tommy was mindful to stifle the worst of his mewls and groans. That was until Noh-Varr struck something he wasn’t aware lived inside him, and he shouted so loud the walls must have vibrated with it.

Noh-Varr’s name followed suit, Tommy’s body undone and forgetting what game the speedster had initiated. Impatient, quick hands tangled in Noh-Varr’s hair, pulling him in for a fierce kiss and then pushed him down, selfish in wanting both the fingers and mouth on him at once.

And beyond the wall, Billy was rooted to his spot, juggling an expression between disbelief and losing what he had for breakfast. They’d all heard the cry, had rushed closer in apprehension, and then there was the moan of Noh-Varr’s name.

Tommy was throwing it in their face. Billy would have been fuming were he not utterly mortified at the following sounds, the cries and demand for deeper fingers, a harder mouth on him.

With a clearing of his throat, Teddy collected his boyfriend and looked to the others. “I think it’s about time we give them some, ah, time to...get...fresh air.”

Noh-Varr obliged the rapid demands with heroic selflessness and just a little smug satisfaction as he wrapped his lips around Tommy’s trembling erection. He could tell the speedster wouldn’t need long to reach his orgasm at all, not the way he was writhing on Noh’s fingers and raking his hands through the Kree’s hair. But this was all...good. This felt amazingly, good, simple in its meaning and yet so intricate in its execution and implications. Tommy came undone so easily for him, threw himself wide open and Noh-Varr did his best to fill in the frame, to leave the speedster wanting nothing more than he could give.

“Jesus. I need some fresh air, I did not sign on for the alien meat-fest at three in the afternoon,” Kate lead Cassie and Eli out of the apartment with some haste, Teddy and Billy close behind. None of them had expected Tommy to be quite so poignant about his decision of liking Noh’s company.

Tommy came undone rapidly, by surprise really, but what else was to become of a mouth expert in purpose and those fingers pushing against a bundle of nerves that had the speedster’s vision white out.

The orgasm was a paroxysm of Noh-Varr’s name, shouts, and spasming body. His nails dug into the Kree’s scalp as he filled that talented mouth, thighs quivering as they pressed into wide shoulders as if fearful the Kree would up and leave.

They stopped hugging Noh-Varr almost instantly, the high leaving them limp and spent as the rest of Tommy’s body that all but melted into the bed, chest heaving and eyes dazed as he stared at the ceiling.

Noh remained calm as Tommy all but thrust into his throat, thighs squeezing his head with delightful tension that almost turned to vibration. It was a spectacle to watch Tommy hit his high with such ferocity. 

The Kree swallowed what the young man gave so vigorously, not terribly afflicted by the taste. He’d certainly had worse substances in his mouth than this and the lingering scent, so heavy in his nose and mouth, kept his mind harnessed firmly to the boy beneath him. The Kree rested his head on Tommy’s stomach, placing a kiss on the trembling muscles and smiling up at the boy.

“You certainly live up to your name, Speed.”

Tommy’s pleasant high vanished in that comment and he landed a solid kick to the Kree’s chest, which was easily caught by the ankle and received with no scorn at all.

“Yes, haven’t heard that one before,” Tommy bit back, then grunted as he extended his arms high above his head. “For that, I think I should just go right back to sleep in my own bed, in layers of clothing.”

A grin worked through his words. To think he’d be here, lazing in a bed with an alien that had him grinning to begin with. It was much for Tommy and it did things to his stomach and heart he would later debate over, or maybe not at all since he wasn’t the type to do that hand-holding thing.

Noh-Varr continued to smile at the grin on Tommy’s face, his head particularly comfortable on the boy’s stomach. This was good, the way he felt right now, looking at this marvel of a human. He might call this place home after all.

The moment was only slightly ruined by the urgent reminder from his nether regions that he still had a little problem to deal with. With a small grunt, he rolled himself out of Tommy’s crotch, one hand sinking down and enclosing around his dick, which brought some blessed relief to him.

“I think I will prefer you without clothes in any given situation.”

Tommy laughed at that, waving Noh-Varr’s ridiculous comment, which was somehow still arousing, off.

“You’re hopeless. I bet you’re actually a big romantic, aren’t you? The kind to buy flowers, leave sweet notes, all that gross stuff,” he said, dragging his calves, once they regained life, across Noh-Varr’s outer thighs.

“Seems you have a problem too, romantic. I’m waiting for you to take care of it.”

To sweeten the innuendo, Tommy brought his knees up and stretched out more, still smiling like a lazy feline.

“Why would I buy flowers, they serve no function I can think of,” Noh sounded a little off, which had everything to do with the hand around his dick and nothing with the actual conversation, though he was sure he could argue about all of this at a later point in time. 

The suggestion was not lost on him though and he curled towards Tommy’s middle once more.

“Since you’re so speedy, how is your recovery time?” teeth nipped at Tommy’s hipbone as the Kree found another patch of skin yet to be marked.

Tommy hummed, allowing Noh-Varr to stew in his arousal a little longer, liking the attention on his body meanwhile. He was already sore and every mark on him was a bustle of activity under his skin.

“Very good. Faster than most humans,” Tommy offered, then touched Noh-Varr’s jaw, wanting to meet his eyes. “You can finish inside, as long...as you promise not to leave.”

The Kree stilled at that, keeping his gaze locked with Tommy’s, but the rest of him frozen in time. What was he implying? That Noh-Varr had somewhere to be, right after this? Or at any point? Was he asking for a long-term commitment on something no older than a day, a matter of hours? Or was he simply wishing to share a bed again, the comfort brought to both by being close and intimate, far more than either of them had ever experienced?

He didn’t know what to answer, he didn’t know what Tommy wanted to hear or really, what he was asking of him.

“I promise not to leave you, Tom-My.” 

And he meant it in every sense, allowing himself to fall into this connection not of his choosing, but predestined from the moment the two of them had shared a cell. Noh was aligning his pathetically meager life to Tommy’s existence, and it was fine with him. For now.

The sex was slower this time, sensual, and brimming with something that contradicted with the life Tommy carved for himself. Yet he clung to Noh-Varr, seizing that something he should be scoffing at, and he let his moans on that matter bury into Noh-Varr’s mouth as they moved, hips to hips, chest to chest, all and everything as Noh-Varr sought his own orgasm.

When the moment peaked, Tommy grasped his face, holding their eyes steady as he saw the climax crest in the Kree’s eyes, felt it in his body, heard it in his low groan. Then, Tommy kissed him, and held him close, letting the mass of a body crumble against him.

“You may have to carry me when we get fresh air,” Tommy panted after a moment, still unable to shake off his smile.

This time was different, there were layers to it now, even though the act in itself hadn’t changed. Tommy felt different beneath his fingers, beneath his touch. Closer, even less willing to let go of his neck and face and so addicted to kissing him at any given opportunity. Noh-Varr couldn’t say he disliked any of it, this only reinforced Tommy’s anchor role in his mind.

“I will carry you any time, any where you require,” he strained his ears for all of five seconds before ascertaining they were in fact alone in the HQ, “and your friends definitely heard us.”

Tommy groaned, what was left of his groans at any rate.

“Whatever. They got what they deserved,” he said. 

There was an awkward moment of rearranging limbs and pillows so both bodies could stretch out and bask in the afternoon’s laziness. Tommy drew his legs up to brush up against Noh-Varr, fingertips dancing across any bulk of muscle they could reach.

“Gotta say I never thought this is where we’d end up after meeting in that cell,” Tommy said through a chuckle, which died as he considered all the trauma Noh-Varr endured when he had been left behind. 

But Tommy didn’t apologize, and he wasn’t about to begin now. Apologies, for the most part, were platitudes, and were not wanted when received but then demanded when the person at fault refused to offer one. Apologies didn’t bring people back from the dead, didn’t make boyfriends or girlfriends un-cheat, and they didn’t stop the nightmares Tommy rarely had, but could still leave him breathless and terrified at night.

Instead, Tommy reached out and held Noh-Varr’s hand, squeezing as his head tucked into the alien’s arm.

“I have a feeling,” he began, shifting subjects from his mind, “that I just got myself a, um, well...I suppose you use the word ‘lover’, huh?”

He wouldn’t have imagined himself ever in a position to just lay back and let the most important thing on his mind be the sound of Tommy’s heart, winding down to a steady beat, a pulsing rhythm that drew his life to it with unmistakable command, but one he was finding himself a willing slave to.

There was a hand in his own, and it refused to give him up. Tommy didn’t need to apologise, he was here. He was right here, holding Noh’s hand even though neither of them were fans of open need for support, he was right here, not moving, not leaving, not turning his back on Noh-Varr with disappointment and disgust, which would be what awaited him should he ever return to his not so utopian home.

“I like the sound of that word, lover. But it has a definition I do not quite understand,” the Kree word for lover and love was synonymous with commitment, loyalty and dedication. You made an agreement, so to say, to stay with the one of your choosing and serve each other to your best interests.

“Love is a very flawed, human concept.”

Tommy stared at their hands, the word fermenting in his mind. Love, a word he heard abused countless times a week. Noh-Varr was right in his description of it. It was a flawed and very human concept in that regard.

Tommy was a stranger to that word, though he threw it around when discussing types of food he ‘loved’, but that was the extent of his affairs with it. As Tommy let his fingers tangle with Noh-Varr’s, pulling their arms up so he could watch them shift against one another, Tommy realized there was one thing he loved.

“I love being a superhero,” he said, and felt it to be true.

To say he now understood the concept and could apply it to whatever the hell was happening between the alien he had rescued, however, was untrue.

“No one’s ever used that word around me,” he added, joking to lighten the mood. Tension made him squirm inside and he didn’t like that in the slightest. Made for bad running. “Not even my mom.” That bit he said with a chuckle.

“Is she supposed to? Is that common human culture?” Noh-Varr couldn’t fathom why aiding others selflessly would produce any kind of satisfaction for such a thankless, useless task. You didn’t live your life to its full efficiency, unless you were actually pursuing an active military career and protected the empire. Unless you were gifted in other areas, which you continued to educate yourself in until you reached perfection and then gave your all to the good of the Empire.

“We Kree do not have any concept called Love. We abolished worship, we do not indulge in emotional depths, they were found to be unproductive. And yet...I am not a good Kree,” he paused, watched his hand, still fascinated by how Tommy’s fit into it so nicely.

“I am...I was genetically engineered. I was bred to be a soldier, even under the guise of diplomacy. Adapt and survive.”

“I could tell,” Tommy said, tilting his head to rest on Noh-Varr’s shoulder. He sighed and lowered their hands to the Kree’s chest, still cupped and warm against each other. “Love is part of humanity, you could say, though it’s meaning is stretched all over the place. But I think without it, while society might be productive, it wouldn’t be one worth living in for most people.”

Tommy furtively, or maybe not, scooted closer, ear seeking out the other’s heartbeat. When he found it, he settled into the spot comfortably.

“Makes things worth fighting for,” he went on. “I guess you could say I protect the world. I know there are people who love things, their families, the world, their lovers, whatever. I think it’s worth fighting for that, even if you’re damn right to say it’s a thankless job. But then who cares?”

Tommy had lived his life receiving no thanks, just scorned looks, sneers, the bad ends of abuse. In all sense, he should have poured his trauma into being a villain and making everyone else miserable. Maybe Tommy loved the world too, or held a grain of hope for finding what left him void by keeping the world safe.

And maybe it was just too much work to bother being a bad guy.

“This world could do with an efficiency overhaul,” Noh-Varr said, but his tone was light, conquest was way beyond his means and willpower right now. Maybe when he’d established a new purpose, he could set about improving his new home. Or was it that? Was Earth really a home? Or had his prison bars just been exchanged for the light pressure of Tommy on his chest, this lull of security and comfort an ingenious new way to hold him?

“I’m really a dysfunctional Kree. We’re not supposed be afflicted by rage or...carnal desire.”

“I’d say you’re the poster boy for anti-Kree behavior then,” Tommy said, laughing.

He rolled to his side to meet Noh-Varr’s face. There was no lines etched around his mouth or eyes the first time Tommy had seen him, and it suited the Kree. As ridiculous as the notion was, Tommy felt Noh-Varr to be an anchor, that thing people talked about that kept them from spiraling out of their minds. 

Tommy thought he could put up with a shit day if it meant Noh-Varr was there to cause a little trouble with him when he got back. Or maybe make some dinner and watch the alien eat the parts humans didn’t.

“It might be the post-sex talking, but this whole hiding you in headquarters business is kind of counterintuitive, don’t you think?” Tommy sat up enough to prop onto an elbow, his free hand dragging patterns over the Kree’s body. “I’ve been saving money for a while. The superhero thing doesn’t exactly pay much but I do, uh, work. Mostly because I’m sick of living with the Kaplans and not doing much better here. When I get my own place in a bit, I’m dragging you with me. If you’re bent on this not-destroying the world thing, I don’t think being caged up like some animal at a superhero headquarters is going to convince you of that.”

“You are inviting...no, you are telling me to live with you, aren’t you?” Noh-Varr was blissfully unaware of the connotations of that notion, he just accepted the fact Tommy wanted him around with a grateful smile. Because really, he’d never expected to come across someone so...kind, so entrancing, enthralling even, on this rock of all places.

“Out of all the Earths I could have crashed on...I am...fortunate this one contains you. I owe you more than my life, Tom-My. If I could be beside you every day, I am pretty sure I can find a way to...like...maybe even devise a way to love Earth. You make it almost...possible.”

Tommy was all pinks and reds as Noh-Varr kept talking. He shoved the alien and shut him up by kissing him, a press of lips to lips and nothing more.

“Shut up, will you?” he said, hovering inches from his face. “Don’t get all...nevermind. I have a feeling you really are a romantic and I’m screwed either way just having you around and smiling like a goddamn idiot all the time.”

Tommy leaned back into the alien’s arms. “All I’m saying is it’s better for all parties if you leave this place and come to mine. But...yeah, I guess you’re lucky if you consider that you could end up in one where you’d stay a prisoner forever.”

The thought burned memories into Tommy’s mind, fabricated new dreads that were still not far from reaching them.

“Listen,” he said, firmer but quieter. “If things get bad, whether it’s someone trying to lock you up or...well, anything, you trust me. Even if they get in the way, try to lock you up again, I’m getting you out.”

Noh stayed quiet for a long moment, his arms, looped around Tommy’s body by now, tightening their grip, residual fear and anger coursing through the Kree at the thought of revisiting those prison walls. 

“I won’t go back, I would rather die. I will not let them touch me again.”

There was something dangerous about the edge in his voice, a warning, a promise and a sharp notion of memories not to be forgotten any time soon. He may not have experienced pain like a convential being, but that didn’t mean he didn’t remember. The testing, the cutting, taking him to the very limits of his abilities...his grip tightened impossibly, threatened the speedster’s ribcage, but he did not take notice.

“I will not let them touch me again.”

It hurt, Noh-Varr squeezing him as though he were literally the lifelong keeping the alien from prison. Tommy rode out the pain, only hinting at his discomfort when it became too much and he gripped Noh-Varr’s jaw hard to get the Kree’s attention.

“No,” Tommy said, and it disgusted him that he sounded so desperate in that single word. “I’m not going to let you die. Look, Noh-Varr, life throws a lot of crap at me, and that’s okay. I can take it, but there are some people who get shit thrown at them when they don’t deserve it. I’m not a good person really, especially in the past, so I deserve it.

“But not you. You were following orders all your life. You didn’t have a life, you get it? For you to just die, that’s not,” Tommy bit on his tongue a moment, “I’ll get you out again if it happens, because you’re worth fighting for, just like the world’s worth fighting for. They wont’ know what hit them, and when they do, they’re not going to try and touch you again without knowing I’m there to block them, because you do belong somewhere here. You belong running around the city with me, causing some light mischief maybe, or in a nice home where you can just watch television and not worry about who is coming at your door, where you can eat all the egg shells you want.”

Tommy was ranting now, he knew it, but the tap was on and stuck.

“So don’t die. Not while I’m around to show you it’s always worth fighting for, life.”

The Kree just stared at Tommy, stunned, speechless, overwhelmed by the strength of Tommy’s declaration. It filled him with a different sort of fear, one that perhaps was just condensed anxiety that the speedster hinted at the possibility of repeated imprisonment. His grip was still tight on the slim body, but no longer a fearful cling. He wanted to sink into Tommy in any possible way he could right now, because this human had just left him wordless.

“I belong with you.”

Tommy didn’t answer that at first, but his hammering heart might as well have supplied the answer with each yes, yes, yes it pulsed. How often had Tommy mocked those that found attachment to a near-stranger, and how often was he right when they would part ways sometime later. 

Maybe he and Noh-Varr would part ways at some point, but, stupidly maybe, Tommy didn’t believe for an instance that that meant they weren’t part of each other’s lives still. 

“Huh. Yeah,” Tommy said, surprised how easily the admission came. “I think you do.”

He leaned over and sealed that with one last kiss, then decided lunch could wait until later.

*  
Their time together was anything but tranquil, but it mellowed Noh’s mood to an extreme extent. Who knew lounging around, trying out Earth’s many culinary inventions and learning culture from a primitive entertainment device could be such an amazing way to spend time? Tommy was always by his side, took him out during night-times, showed him the city and beyond, even let him abduct him to a roof once or twice with the firm promise of no more falling.

It was too good to be true, this new life of his. 

This morning, he’d weedled out of Tommy’s grip and gotten up early. This was to be one of their last days in the HQ and the Kree decided that breakfast for his ever-hungry speedster was something he could manage. 

If he hadn’t eaten the last of the eggs last night in front of a marathon session of Firefly. There was something about sci-fi that charmed Noh-Varr to no ends. Humans and their dreams of space...

It wouldn’t take long, to go to the store, pick up eggs and run back. No one would even see him, he could definitely risk it. Especially if he considered how big Tommy’s grin got at the sight of some foods.

Definitely worth it. Noh-Varr pulled on some of the clothing his ‘hosts’ had insisted on buying him and headed out of the kitchen window, sliding down the wall with a smile on his face. This was going to be a really good morning, Tommy would be surprised and pleased, then he wouldn’t get the chance to eat because Noh would claim a little breakfast of his own and then-

The first volley missed him by millimeters, his reflexes honed and recovered since his escape. The projectile took out a massive chunk of wall, right beside him.

Noh-Varr whirled, eyes wide, pulse racing, fingers curling and senses reaching for nega-bands he no longer possessed.

The bird emblem on the uniforms looked familiar, but he had no time to make any connections, because the assembly of armed soldiers took aim at him once more.

Having Noh-Varr around proved good for Tommy’s mood. His banter was sharper, his smirks more professional. Still, his stomach and chest did funny things around the Kree, but nothing that made Tommy want them to stop doing that. A little discomfort went a long way if it meant seeing Noh-Varr laugh at some stupid joke on the television.

As much as Tommy loathed T.V. for the most part, he would indulge for a little bit, just to listen to the alien’s reactions as he watched this show or that sci-fi one he was into it. Not to mention he liked the feel of being pressed into Noh-Varr’s body, their hands laced sometimes.

Then there was the sex. Not an abundance of it, as Tommy had expected. Just enough, not always necessary. It tended to spring up on them anywhere though. Mostly in bed, sometimes on the kitchen counter, twice on the couch, and more times than Tommy recalled in the shower. Or some form of sex anyway.

Tommy was in a blissful sleep, sore in his low back from last night’s sex, and pleased by the new marks on his body. He hadn’t sensed Noh-Varr leaving him, still enveloped in the warmth the alien left behind.

He did, however, sense the light explosion.

Tommy was up before he was fully alert, dressed, and zipping to the rooftop where he had the best view of commotion.

He gaped at the sight, heart plummeting to his toes. Noh-Varr was surrounded.

Their weapons were drawn, ready to aim correctly (Tommy had noticed the gape in the wall). The hell if they were going to get it right this time.

Tommy’s hands slapped together and their weapons were ensnared in the fury of his kinetic energy manipulation, exploding, sending puffs of smoke, intended to conceal Noh-Varr’s escape.

“Noh-Varr!” He screamed down and gestured in the direction of the theater they often snuck into. Noh-Varr couldn’t see it from his angle, but he hoped the Kree got enough sense of the direction to know what Tommy meant.

Their aim followed him as he moved, looking for a gap to breach and yet he found none. They had come prepared for him, whoever they were. He didn’t care to find out what they had in store for him, no doubt it involved a collar, pain, and dull, grey walls. Never again, he’d promised himself and Tommy. Never would he endure such indignation again.

When the weapons that had been so meticulously trained on him exploded, his heart skipped a beat, surprise followed by a warm rush of familiarity. Tommy. But straight after the relief, he plummeted into worry. These bastards hadn’t hesitated to throw Tommy into a cell the last time they caught him, surely that hadn’t changed one bit, no matter how heroic Speed tried to be.

He wanted Tommy to run, to get far away, he didn’t...shouldn’t ever be restrained again and for the first time, Noh-Varr felt real fear pump through his body. It wasn’t for himself. He could not bear to see Tommy like he had the first time...

The Kree used the moment to make a break for it, but not in the direction that Tommy had in mind, he knew the speedster would want to meet, regroup, have each other’s backs in this situation, just as he had promised. Noh-Varr couldn’t let them get to Tommy. Maybe he had learned what was worth fighting for, because he didn’t even need to think about leading the men away from the speedster and himself into the open.

He broke from the circle with speed alone, running, muscles reacting almost stiffly to strain unexpected on this day. The street was large, wide, full of people and cars. He ran, over bonnets, over roofs, ignoring the screams and startled surprise of the crowd. And then he heard the rotor chopping noise overhead. A helicopter, bearing that same emblem hovered in front of him and he saw the nuzzle of the gun a fraction too late, unable to dodge at the speed he was going.

The asphalt’s embrace was anything but kind, the pain paralyzing his senses even less so. Whatever they’d shot him with had him curling into an unnatural curve, the excruciating surge throughout his body drawing a high-pitched groan from his throat.

“He’s down! Bag him and retag him!”

Noh-Varr had bolted, and relief swept over Tommy. Then it froze, shriveled and dead, and the worry detonated inside of Tommy. The Kree was purposely going in another direction.

“No!” He shouted after the blurr of a form.

Idiot, moron, fucking--All insults bearing Noh-Varr’s names tore through Tommy’s mind as fast as his heels ripped up the wall as he ran down it, dove through the alleys. Noh-Varr was quick, and no doubt he had a misguided sense of protection over Tommy instead of himself.

Tommy was quicker, and not as stupid.

He saw Noh-Varr crash down, struck, and Tommy had no time to let the terror vibrating through him slow down his pace. Instead, he let it fuel him, and he let out a bellow as he spotted a small group of brutes stalking close to the fallen Noh-Varr.

Almost, Tommy knocked into them, wanting to propel them with the fury of his speed, but it was logic that saved him, his quick-processing brain that begged him to keep the task of keeping Noh-Varr safe in mind, not to seek vengeance. Yet.

Tommy’s speed allowed him little contact with people, and he was no different starling the group of men as a hazy form whipped around them, first stripping them of their tools, and then screeching to a halt in front of them, providing them with a mean, angry smirk before they were hurled backward with another rush of Tommy’s arms.

The speedster jerked his head up, seeing their foe close in on them. Well, shit.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, kicking the Kree in the arm, not daring to spare him a glance and let one of their enemies snatch him up when he was distracted. “Get up!” Another kick and Tommy lunged for two more men leaping out of a helicopter.

Then back to Noh-Varr, giving his hair a mean yank before he was standing and glowering at those above and nearing them. Where the hell was his team when you need them?

“I said get the fuck up!”

He couldn’t. There was nothing he wanted more right now than to obey Tommy’s angry demand, to respond to the kicks and yanks tugging at him violently. But he couldn’t. His body had curled into a stiff form and would not submit to his mind, staying frozen, and in pain. What the hell had they shot him with.

“Kid Quicksilver, I suggest you stand down,” the cold voice of the agent in charge sounded out over a loudspeaker as the SHIELD operatives formed another tight circle. They were trying to finish this without relying on anyone superhuman who might side with them, which they’d need if Tommy didn’t desist.

“You’ve got this all wrong kid. You should be helping us take this guy down, not try to stop us from doing our job.”

Tommy seethed at the name they dubbed him with, and his smirk got all the nastier. A speedy glance told him Noh-Varr was down, having been struck with something that overrode the Kree’s typical vigor. Tommy faced the unit once more.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Tommy cupped a hand to his ear and leaned forward. “I couldn’t hear you over those loud uniforms you were wearing? Did you say to save the helpless alien who means no harm to the planet?”

He heard the unit ruffling up, their leader ready to spew out protests, but Tommy went on with, “Well, why didn’t you just say so.”

It was going to be ugly, and leave a mean dent in the city’s pavement and sidewalk, but Tommy didn’t fool around when SHIELD’s fat nose rummaged around where it shouldn’t have been sniffing. Too fast for any of the men to process, Tommy was whipping circles around Noh-Varr, and before they could take three hurried steps toward him, the explosion rocked the world around them, and poles, asphalt, and concrete bellowed as they were uprooted from their foundation and rained over what was a mere crater, both white-haired misfits gone.

Hauling Noh-Varr was impossible on his own were it not for the speedster skills. Tommy had utilized more than one trick to lug his prize around the city, taking them five cities away just as a precaution.

Tommy wasn’t stupid enough to try abandoned theaters or warehouses here. To keep explanations brief, and Tommy liked brief, he knew of a small place above a Chinese restaurant that he had employed more than once as a means to escape public (and private) eyes.

There, he panted as he lowered Noh-Varr on a mattress with no headboard, but it was clean enough. Tommy thought to call Billy until he prioritized Noh-Varr’s health. A quick assessment told him nothing was seriously damaged, but there was something sticking out of the alien. Tommy yanked it out, none too gently.

“Hey,” he cupped the Kree’s face. “Hey, look at me.”

Noh-Varr gave a grunt, he’d been semi-conscious for most of the exchange and for Tommy’s escape and he’d been terrifyingly useless. Right now, he rolled his eyes up, searching the room for Tommy and finding him difficult to keep in focus.

Whatever had been hurting him, or rather, the thing the pain eminated and spread from throughout his body was removed, the tear of skin and flesh ignored. Noh-Varr was too aware of how highly strung his nervous system was and yet, it did not respond, did not override and reroute the pain as it should, it was just a constant brimming, a buzzing deep in his ears he could barely hear Tommy’s voice over.

“Tom-My,” he knew he was forming the words, but he could no longer hear his own voice. His eyes widened, he’d never been good at dealing with the loss of one or more of his senses, and right now, his sight was blurring, he couldn’t hear anything but that damn buzzing and he still couldn’t move, couldn’t even feel the blood over his chest.

“I got you,” Tommy told him.

At least Noh-Varr was coherent. Somewhat. Tommy’s hands flew over the Kree, feeling for further damage.

“Looks like they drugged you good. I think we are going to have to wait for it to wear off.”

Tommy run a hand through his hair, juggling ideas. “Okay,” he said, crouching and stroking Noh-Varr’s jaw. “You just rest. If you need something, let me know. But I think you just gotta breathe through it and it’ll pass. I’ll be here. I promise. I’m going to text Billy. Think you can manage being useless a little longer?”

He ended the last bit with a chuckle, and his hands kept moving, massaging what bits of Noh-Varr seemed too tense.

Noh knew Tommy was close, touching him even, but the numb tingle on his skin where the speedster laid his hand on his face wasn’t comforting, exactly because it was just that, a numb tingling sensation that neither confirmed or denied the nature of the touch.

“I can’t feel...anything,” he muttered, wondering if his tongue was turning to lead. Maybe his whole body was. Suddenly, a brief jolt of panic jerked his limbs, had his hand flying up to his chest.

“Get it out!” 

Tommy sucked in a sharp breath, the manifestation of his own panic seizing him before he was in his right mind again, stroking Noh-Varr’s hands hard.

“Noh, listen to me,” Tommy said, loud and firm. “You have to focus on my voice. I know it’s scary, but I’m not going to let anything happen. You’re here now. You have to just let it pass.”

Squeezing harder, Tommy sat down by Noh-Varr, tugging him into his lap to cradle his head and rub his back.

“Just...just listen. I’ll talk. I’ll let you know I’m here and then it’ll be over before you know it. You know I’m from New Jersey. Not a great place. I want to visit the ocean. West coast. We’ll do that. I would love to run on the ocean there. We could eat burgers...”

Tommy went on, talking of all the things he wanted to do but never did, and never, ever shared with another soul. Part of him justified it because he never believed Noh-Varr could really hear him. He spoke of wanting to own a nice house one day, with a wide space for running. He’d like at least two dogs, maybe a Husky. He wanted to learn to cook really fancy meals, like lobster, just to treat himself to a special dinner. Of course Noh-Varr would be welcome in his home, if not living in it. It was Tommy’s safe haven, a little image in his mind he carved out years ago, now with the added company he thought he’d never have, and was equally terrified of losing.

The Kree stilled, though his muscles twitched and jerked with tiny spasms that had him trembling beneath Tommy’s touch. And yet, he was concentrating on Tommy’s voice, on the way he curled his tongue around some words, on the warmth he only dimly felt against his back. Tommy was here and he would not...let anyone touch Noh. Even when the Kree tried his best to keep him away from trouble, Tommy ran right into it for his sake. No, for the promise he’d made.

Tommy was here, and he was...safe. As hard as that was to admit about a creature so young and impatient and rash and infuriating and wonderful.

Maybe he’d build himself a tech-garage, with a galactic transponder on the roof just in case he did want to ‘phone home’. He was talking, he knew his voice was slurred and slow, but it helped, to imagine this future with Tommy, this notion of living together being home to one another. Slowly, he relaxed, began breathing deeply.

Tommy never felt so weary as his story weaved into its happy end. He stroked Noh-Varr’s hair, smiling at the Kree.

“It’ll be nice,” he finished, and sought Noh-Varr’s hand as his phone chimed an obnoxious tune.

Tommy whipped it out, hungry to see who it was. He swiped the screen and shoved the phone to his ear.

“Where the hell are you?” Billy, down to the grating tone.

“Safe,” Tommy said. “SHIELD, they--”

“I know! We all saw it on the news.” 

In the background Tommy thought he heard Teddy say, “Some of it.”

“Listen,” Tommy snapped. “Noh-Varr’s KO for the most part. We need to figure out what the hell they want with him. I take it probing and prodding are in his near future though.”

“We knew this might happen, Tommy.”

“Don’t tell me what I know or didn’t know!” Tommy glanced at Noh-Varr and snorted. “No. I’m not letting them take him. If that means they’re out for my head too, so be it. You should all back me up on this. We can trust Noh-Varr a hell of a lot more than SHIELD.”

“Tommy seriously, this is the worst idea you’ve had, and your list is pretty long!” 

Billy’s voice could be heard through the thick fog and buzz in his brain. Noh-Varr could hear Tommy’s twin, he was distinctly unhappy. Well, no wonder, Noh did just drag Tommy down into whatever he was headed for. Even if he had tried not to take the speedster along. Apparently, Tommy was serious about this sticking around thing.

“They’re even informing the public about it. Dangerous fugitive, civil vigilance and all that crap!”

If the Kree had been awake or just a little more aware, he might have found the haste and intensity with which SHIELD searched for him odd. Sure, he was a force to be reckoned with, but one escaped Kree was hardly worth the immense and aggressive retrieval unit he’d encountered.

There was something else going on here, he just needed to figure out what exactly that was.

“Tommy please, we can make a deal with them, no probing or anything. I’ve been in the Cube, I know what kind of shit goes down there and we can make sure they won’t do it to Noh-Varr again, but you can’t just keep running.”

“Bullshit!” Tommy’s voice was thunder now and he would strike lightning through the phone if he had the witch powers. “He’s not going to the Cube!”

Sentiments Tommy was still new to impeded his logic, and he had to tear the phone away from him to gather his thoughts, allowing Billy to rant on the other end with no listener. Looking at Noh-Varr, Tommy knew his opinion would not change, logically based or not.

He jerked the phone back up.

“If Noh-Varr gets taken, so does Teddy.” He ignored the horrified expression he could imagine Billy making. “It’s only fair, isn’t it? They wanted Teddy. They can’t have one and not the other. Aliens have come here before seeking safety, and Noh-Varr isn’t going back! If they want to start a war, fine, but I swear I’ll take out at least half of them before they even get to see where Noh-Varr is.”

There was somewhat of an awkward pause on the other side of the conversation, Billy taking a shaky breath and Teddy’s soothing murmurs just barely audible.

“Tommy don’t be...like...you sound like...” another murmur and the couple on the other end of the line seemed to be in agreement about something.

“You’ve really got it bad for him, don’t you?”

An odd reasoning to draw from the conversation, but one that seemed paramount to understanding Tommy’s strength of resolution. It was the only explanation, because Tommy was definitely not the kind of guy to make this kind of sacrifice without good reason.

Tommy paled, probably gaped, might have forgotten what year it was as the words stabbed into his gut, and turned again and again until he was forced to gasp out, “Wh-what!”

Emotions surged within him though, flailing around for his attention to confirm, yes, it seemed that thing inflicting this person or that had not eluded Tommy. Confirmation would not come though, Tommy refused it, and stomped down on any flicker of doubt as he addressed his twin. He was unaware of how tightly he held Noh-Varr’s hand.

“That’s not it,” he said.

“Tommy, you’re not less of the ass that you are just because you get it bad too.”

“I’m not--”

“If you don’t level with us, we can’t help you. We can’t be a team. That’s not what being a team is about.”

Tommy swallowed once, then again.

“I promised him.”

Billy sighed as if that was just what he wanted to hear. “Okay. Listen, we’ll talk to SHIELD. You just...can you lay low?”

“Been doing that most of my childhood.”

“Erm, right. Okay. Stay low. It might...be a while. Give us time. But we have to stay in touch.”

Tommy stared down at Noh-Varr. “Okay,” he said, and didn’t blink at the conviction in his voice. 

The conversation ended there, but the problem was far from gone. The Young Avengers weren’t exactly SHIELD’s favourite team of teenage superheroes to deal with and to broker a deal with them would take...skill. Kate Bishop skill. And it could take weeks.

Noh-Varr was still and quiet, pressed to Tommy with almost entirely unfurled limbs, though his his free hand still rested on the slight hole in his chest from where Tommy had yanked out the shot that had downed the Kree. The wound wasn’t substantial and he’d recover easily enough once this damn cocktail of whatever they had injected him with wore off. It was extremely potent if it could down him like some sort of Zoo animal.

“Tom-My, you do not...make...sense.”

Speaking was a measured activity that took all of his concentration right now as a pounding, relentless headache crept into his mind. 

“Shut up,” Tommy said. “I get enough of that from my team.”

There was less bite to his words, hands soothing over Noh-Varr’s scalp, massaging. He had hung up but the words still hovered around him. Have it bad. Tommy didn’t know what to do with the words, as if they were parts of a puzzle that should have made sense, but Tommy kept knocking their pieces out of order and muddling up the picture they revealed.

“Sleep. It’s okay,” he went on, finding strength in the distraction of keeping Noh-Varr occupied. “I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He didn’t want to sleep, it reminded him too much of grey walls, gas and encroaching darkness that always ended in pain and nightmares. But Tommy was here and that was different. No, it wasn’t just different it was the difference, the only one that counted. Because Tommy was here, holding him, touching and soothing and trying to be everything at once.

It was comforting, way beyond anything he’d ever experienced back home, or with Merree.

“You know...how I said...I was a bad Kree?”

Speaking was an effort, but it felt better than letting himself fall into the oblivion of sleep. He wanted to stay awake and numbly feel Tommy, hear his voice over the pounding rhythm in his head. 

“I felt...I was..in love, before, just once. ‘th a crewmate. She died too.”

He wasn’t entirely certain why he felt the need to share exactly this with Tommy, but if he was to lose himself to unconsciousness, he wanted the speedster to at least know how much of a world he’d built for the lonely Kree in just the short time they’d been together.

“We call our lovers hala, you know why?”

Tommy’s hand stopped moving as Noh-Varr displayed a raw nerve, a history of himself, instead of entering what comfort he could gain from sleeping in Tommy’s arms. Tommy didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to know Noh-Varr’s secrets or the cruel reality that he’d loved and she’d died. He wanted to unhear it as much as he ached to know it again, relive the words, and tuck that piece of Noh-Varr into a crevice in Tommy’s heart he never wanted to admit was there.

Unable to speak about the loss, Tommy stretched out so Noh-Varr could see his face and feel his hands on his body.

“Hala,” Tommy repeated. “No. What’s it mean?”

“Means Hala, it is the Kree homeworld, my homeworld,” Noh-Varr raised an arm, but whatever gesture he’d planned on making was refusing to be performed by his hand, so he dropped the limb to rest on whichever part of Tommy was closest. All of the speedster needed to be closer, so close he could never detach and leave.

Noh-Varr’s head pulsed with both pain and shame. To have let his principles, the very way his people lived go so quickly through only years of incarceration and torture was shameful indeed. He would not be permitted on Hala the way he was now, needy, weak, dependant.

“Kree don’t have a word for just home, it’s hala...something we live for, something we serve and cherish and protect...like you cherish...Earth, your teammates, like your brother cherishes his Skrull.”

So it was probably the closest to love a Kree would ever get, in other words. Though Noh-Varr wasn’t quite finished, there was a long, drawn-out pause between that revelation and the next.

“You could be my hala.”

Tommy thought he was done spinning for the day, and then Noh-Varr had to top the cake with a cherry so succulent and tempting, but could easily have been poison to the speedster. Years of emotional distance, as many dubbed it, had been Tommy’s life, had been what allowed him to endure life when it was too much and seemed better not to bother with it.

Now the foundation was undermined by a few words from Noh-Varr, or maybe had been the moment he released the alien from his shackles. Tommy was facing something ineffable as he studied Noh-Varr’s pain riddled and honest face. Was it so bad to create a new foundation, to face the abyss of the precipice he stood at if it meant falling hand-in-hand with Noh-Varr?

Tommy’s heart thumped loudly as if telling him ‘of course’. If this alien could leap in with such loyalty, Tommy sure as hell could. After all, someone had to keep the alien from having all the fun in leaping off things.

Tommy’s fingers brushed over Noh-Varr’s, drawing them close to kiss.

“Okay,” he said. “I always say to try things once. Being your hala should be one of those things.”

Tommy tried to smirk, but it was a weak and satisfied smile all in one.

“You know you’re pretty awful at this flirting and romance thing. I like it.”

“I can try to get better. TV’s teaching me much,” Noh sounded a little more at ease. If Tommy really was fine with being his lover, his home and his everything, then his absolute trust in him, the one he was giving up so easily, was perfectly justifiable even in his logic.

And it meant he could rest back and let the speedster lull him into sleep he desperately needed.

*

“He’s not going to like this. Can’t someone else cast a locating spell?” the whine was pointless before the first noise of it had even left Billy’s mouth. He knew that. Didn’t mean he couldn’t do it to purely let himself feel a little better with all the expectant eyes on him.

It had only three days to contact SHIELD, three days of Tommy hiding his alien prize away from the world. And now, Billy was about to teleport himself, the director of SHIELD and the rest of his team to wherever his sort-of-twin was holing up with Noh-Varr.

This was going to be a disaster. And Tommy definitely would not like it.

The team agreed, all in their own ways, but what was there left to do. Hope for the best? It seemed trite given who they were about to pop in on.

Tommy hated surprises. For a guy who craved all sorts of attention, negative or not, he did well at the hiding out thing. He moved their location more than once, Noh-Varr being able to handle it now as the drug trickled out of him with time, and Tommy was beginning to feel a spark of something that might have been hope that things would turn out well.

He was less than pleased when a flash of blue served as the only preamble before his team and someone he had the mind to send their atoms exploding pop into their latest hideout.

Tommy smacked his palms together in an instant, eyes feral and body tight, already between them and where Noh-Varr sat on the couch.

“Wait, wait,” Teddy said, claws raised. “Just hear us out.”

“The hell are you doing!” Tommy aimed his flat hands at him. “You just appear without so much as a damn phone call?”

“You wouldn’t take it well either way,” Kate said.

“Damn right. Now give me a solid reason in five seconds and under ten words why I shouldn’t make his atomic structure turn to mush. And,” he shoved his hands toward them, “don’t say prison is a reason. Been there, broke out. Can do it again.”

Billy had never seen Tommy this...like this. He was like a stray dog, protecting the only bone he’d ever chewed, or something of equal value, it really wasn’t the best time for analogies or metaphors, Tommy was pissed and...afraid? But not for himself, surely he knew his team would never...oh.

Already the young mage regretted doing this, but in face of the circumstances that had come to light in the recent past, even he found his hands tied. 

Right. Under ten words. Might as well break the news whilst the shock was fresh in place.

“He’s here to prevent an intergalactic war breaking out, Tommy!”

Noh-Varr had been sitting so comfortably on the couch, studious of the stupid daytime TV show Tommy had settled him down with and feeding on something Tommy called emergency rations that still managed to taste better than anything he’d eaten in the Cube.

And then the room was full of people, hostility and confusion. Tommy was in front of him faster than the blink of an eye, and he was absolutely livid with protective rage. It made Noh-Varr feel more than proud to have this one as his hala.

Tommy didn’t budge from his position or lower his hands, which were more than eager to start spinning a catastrophe. He did oblige with a quirk of his brow, eyes jumping from each teammate. He trusted them. They weren’t going to hurt him, but Tommy wouldn’t put it past them to have Teddy be the one to put him in a hold if it meant getting to Noh-Varr.

“The Kree want Noh-Varr. So, what? They’re not having him just to experiment more on him or punish him. He’s come here for...for sanctuary!” It was a word that felt stale on Tommy’s tongue, yet that didn’t strip the meaning of it. “He needs our help.”

“Tommy, we’re talking about the Kree,” Billy said, frowning.

Tommy met him with a fierce look. “He’s worth a war if it means I protect him.”

The others stiffened, and he realized too late he had said ‘I’, not ‘we’. Tommy lifted his chin up higher less be seen as weak from the confession.

“I mean what I say,” he said, this time to the director. “If Teddy gets to stay, then so does Noh-Varr. Now you better start plotting a way to make that happen and not tell me you’re giving Noh-Varr up, or you’ll have nightmares about me until you’re dead.”  
“Tommy,” Billy began, trying to get through the shock of Tommy’s actual confession to find a voice of reason simple enough to convince even the speedster. Which, at this point, was going to be dramatic and difficult, because his twin was talking about starting a war for one guy. He wasn’t joking when he’d asked if he had it bad for Noh-Varr, but this was...kind of terrifying. Especially because it was Tommy who said this. Everyone would have expected it out his own mouth if this was about Teddy and actually, something...this sort of situation had been the reason they busted Tommy out of juvie in the first place. Kree and Skrull, vying for the right to kidnap Teddy...

“Tom-My,” Noh-Varr was first to speak and get up, hands wrapping around the speedster’s, bringing them to a close and putting himself in front of him, “they are my people...they will not come to harm me. I will be tried, but not experimented upon. My people are not such a barbaric race, they will see reason.”

Tommy was a reactor, not a responder, and in the span of two heartbeats all his emotions on the subject had him yanking his hands free and shoving the Kree, though such aggression wouldn’t even cause the alien to stagger.

“No,” he shouted, his glare on Noh-Varr now. “I believe that this world, no, I know this world is special compared to all the others. What other world is all diverse and, and full of all kinds of people, people who need help, people from other worlds that have come here for a new life.”

The fury gone cold in Tommy’s desperation whirled back on his team. “What kind of superheroes are we if someone like Noh-Varr, guilty of just having his damn ship wrecked and captured and torture, gets to be taken back for a punishment that doesn’t fit the crime?”

Billy shook his head. “Tomm-”

“I went to juvie once for stealing some food at a gas station because my mom hadn’t given me anything to eat in days,” Tommy went on, voice light as if he was riding a constant gasp, “and before that, I had gotten into a fight with some guy who wanted to make it a point what he thought of mutants. Because of that record I got chucked to juvie where I got the worst beatings of my life and then,” Tommy laughed, “and then they wonder what went wrong for me to blow up my school, which was not all that intentional or how they told you, and then I’m locked up, experimented on every single day, every night, every morning, every afternoon.”

Someone in his team was trying to speak and Tommy cut them off with a violent motion of his hand. “Tell me,” he yelled at them, “did my crime fit the punishment I got? Because if that’s true, and Noh-Varr can be taken, then superheroes should never bother to exist.”

Stunned silence followed the tirade and the team was hard-pressed to find a corner of the room to redirect their stares at. No one wanted to meet Tommy’s furious, feral gaze head-on. No one wanted to be the target of those accusations and no one wanted to refute the words the speedster had snarled with so much ferocity.

“Tom-My,” Noh-Varr called his name once more, taking every ounce of fury Tommy’s gaze could offer and melted it into his own, took the pain and rage and suffering, incinerated it between them.

“I will not leave you. But I must speak with the Supreme Intelligence.”

The SHIELD director cleared his throat, clearly this was his moment to get between all these garbled teenage emotions and speak his piece.

“We’ll get you on a SWORD ship and take you out to meet the...fleet.”

Noh-Varr tensed and tried to hide the tiny, proud smile flickering across his face. They’d sent the fleet? Just for him? That mean that Earth was considered a dangerous foe, or he was such precious goods to the SI that they took no risks.

“I will speak to the Supreme Intelligence, not to harm Earth for what has been done to me,” he looked at Tommy, tried to convey words without speaking them. He wasn’t doing this for anyone but the speedster.

Tommy stared at him, and for all his rambling and ranting and shouting, his voice offered no comebacks, no logic to keep Noh-Varr here safe on Earth while all the bad drifted far away as though having never bothered with the alien and his hala.

Shaking his head was all Tommy could muster. He did not believe in superstition, but the stones in his gut or maybe the pressure on his chest told him things would not go so smoothly. Yes, Noh-Varr was worth fighting for, worth all the pain that might be awaiting them. If Tommy could take a detour, as he had always done in life, he wanted it.

But he could find none.

“Don’t do this,” he said. 

The Kree completely ignored the room and its occupants around them, world narrowed in on two pools of green that begged him, silently, to listen to the three little words the speedster had uttered. Noh-Varr surged forward, he couldn’t bear much more of the loads Tommy was strapping to his back. He kissed the speedster, there was no hesitation, no moment of embarrassment because no one else existed to him. Not now anyway. His hands were cupping Tommy’s face, cradling him like the precious, amazing wonder he was. 

It lingered longer than it should, Noh unable to tear himself away until absolutely necessary.

“They will destroy the Earth and you with it. I will not bear witness to that, Tom-My.”

The kiss knocked out the entire world from Tommy’s mind, and he clung to Noh-Varr the moment their lips met. There was nothing in his mind but the Kree’s smell, his pulsing heart, his arms, and the memories they had accumulated over the last few days.

And like a cold chill it was gone, Noh-Varr leaning away, the final touch being his hands on Tommy’s.

Tommy shook his head, eyes never so defeated, as if Noh-Varr alone had warped his anger and mockery into emotions the speedster had never allowed himself to indulge, and now he was just left tired and cold, unable to pull out the lowliest of retorts.

The SHIELD director interrupted, and Noh-Varr was escorted out. Tommy should have followed, should have gone all the way to where they’d lift up Noh-Varr to the skies. 

Tommy looked at a nonsensical spot on the carpet and didn’t budge, more statue than speedster.

Somewhere he heard a sound, and his brain told him it was Billy. 

“Tommy,” Billy said. “It’ll be ok--”

Tommy lifted his head at the phrase that never got completed; Teddy had interceded and placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder. It was a good thing, as Tommy couldn’t promise he wouldn’t land an elbow to his twin’s face, to direct the cold stone’s wrath somewhere.

The team seemed at a loss, some stepping closer, hands reaching out, unsure if Tommy was now attuned to accepting physical extensions of sympathy.

But Tommy didn’t snap at them to leave him alone, didn’t run away as he would often do. Quietly, and eerily slow for his person, Tommy collected his jacket from the couch and walked out, softly shutting the door behind him as he did so.


	5. Chapter 5

Someone should have gone after him that afternoon. Someone should have grabbed Tommy and forced him to stay put, not to be alone with the calamity of emotions he must have weighing on his soul right now.

Billy insisted on waiting in the HQ tonight, the worry tensing every fibre of his being. Teddy had to stop him from casting a locating spell every hour and each time, the young man grew more anxious for his twin.

The Kree fleet had left. Had almost reached Earth’s atmosphere, had threatened the planet’s destruction, for they would not tolerate the capture of one of their own. It wasn’t Noh-Varr that was important here, but the Kree’s principles, the supremacy over this part of the galaxy needed to be established, and what better excuse than to demonstrate their power?

But now, the ships were gone. SWORD’s little vessel had returned to their station, no word from the organizations, either of them. Apparently, the purpose of recapturing Noh-Varr had been to hand him back to the Kree in the worst case scenario.

Billy didn’t know and honestly, he didn’t care. What he did care for was his sort-of brother, who hadn’t been home or around for the rest of the day...hopefully, he’d come back here though.

Tommy wasn’t a moper, didn’t believe in it. Not one for admitting he read a lot and knew a bunch of quotes, he would still recycle his favorite one: worrying was like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere.

Going somewhere, anywhere, was Tommy’s purpose. He was always going from one thing to the next, no time to smell the roses less his own thoughts and emotions seize him first.

Yet there he was, lazing in the spot Noh-Varr often took in the theater they snuck into, staring blankly at the curtains, memories unfurling behind his eyelids with each blink. Noh-Varr was gone. That was okay. Rather, that’s how life worked. Happy endings weren’t all that real, and Tommy didn’t have to resort to his experience as a superhero to know that.

Life always threw crap at him, probably well-deserved at that. He could handle it. It was just another notch in the belt, right? He didn’t have time for deeper ponderings than that. Noh-Varr was gone, their promise strung tight between their distance.

Tommy inhaled as his phone vibrated again. He checked it. Billy. He must have been in a sad state of affairs if his twin was constantly messaging him. He should get back.

Tommy eventually dragged himself out of his seat, walking home instead of zipping through the city. He was tired.

Back at HQ, the team was all there, tense and ready to bolt at him the instant he stepped inside.

“Tommy,” Teddy said, breaking the tension with a worried look. “We’re...glad you’re back.”

Tommy kicked the door shut behind him.

“Noh-Varr,” he began, voice low, and not looking at any of them, “wants to live here. I’m going to make that happen. Whether you help me or not, that’s on you.”

Tommy had never been one to ask for help either and by damn if he was going to start by crumbling to hands and knees. But his voice was strained and his eyes burned as much as his chest, and that was the closest thing to a request his team would get.

Tommy was getting really good at dropping silence into a room with just a few sentences. It was becoming a habit for the team to be utterly stupefied by their speedster and his decisions.

“...Tommy, he’s...gone home,” Kate started, carefully choosing her words, avoiding the name like a mildly contagious disease. Whatever transpired between Noh-Varr and Tommy, it had changed the speedster’s world. And that kind of change could be dangerous, especially to someone as reckless as Thomas Shepherd.

“He went with the Kree. He is home.”

The vase didn’t stand a chance against Tommy’s rage. Hours of contemplation, of planning, of reliving every wonderful feeling with Noh-Varr only to relive the agony of it being ripped away from him, something he’d finally taken a liking to and could do with in his life and be okay, all of it accumulated and climaxed in that one act of violence the speedster couldn’t stop. He always thought the vase was a stupid decoration anyway.

“That is not his home,” Tommy said, staring at the water dribbling over the shards that once held it. “And don’t you dare tell me it is again.”

He met the horrified expressions of his team, saw them contemplating how much of the rumors about Tommy going rogue were true now. And that tore another chunk from Tommy’s wall.

“I can’t,” he knew his voice came out broke, so he clung to his rage harder to steady it, “get to him. Not alone.”

His eyes landed on Billy.

Billy balked, blood draining from his entire body. “Tommy, I can’t-”

“You saw him. You all did,” Tommy said. “You know that’s not where he wants to be. If...I’m done with you. All of you, if you can’t understand, if you,” he wasn’t making sense now, he inhaled sharply, “I thought we were superheroes. I thought we ditched letting the idea of the adults seeing as a bunch of kids. I saw someone taken from a life he was getting to like, and yeah, it’s just one life. The world keeps spinning,” but not his, “but anyone who says they’re a hero and decides that one life is worth less than a handful of others, doesn’t deserve to be one.”

Tommy offered them all one final look, zipping to his room, returning as Speed.

“If you think I’m wrong, fine. After all, we just do what we think is right, don’t we?” Tommy showed them he was chasing after what he thought was right with a resounding slam of the door behind him.

Again with the silence. The world seemed to spin around Tommy’s misery rather than its own axis these days, and it was pulling all of them along in its dreadful orbit. This was big. This was bigger than anything they’d ever done together, including Teddy’s family reunion and Billy’s dubious origins. Tommy was talking about going to Hala, the Kree homeworld, plucking his...well, whatever he was to the speedster from the midst of his own people and bringing him back. This was a trip into deep space, so far out of their depth it almost seemed like a story written in a book that couldn’t end well.

And yet. They couldn’t abandon Speed’s plea for help. Even if it had been somewhat rage-fuelled by Tommy’s perception of what exactly they did. But this meant more to him than he’d ever shown them before and to turn their backs to him now was to deny everything they claimed to be.

The decision was made without a word spoken.

*

“So, any ideas on how to get to an alien world, run through an army of Kree and get your lovebug back?” Kate called from the floating blue platform, courtesy of Billy, that caught up with Tommy on his aimless way.

Tommy shot her a feeble glower at that. “It’s not like that,” he said, seeing them all roll their eyes even if they didn’t. “It’s not me I’m doing this for and don’t forget it. IF I get something out of it, that’s just a bonus, so shut the hell up and focus on that locating spell while Vision gets the ship ready.”

Billy never took kindly to his spells being shoved one direction then another, but he sucked it up this once with a sigh and took a spot in the back of the ship where he could, hopefully, get some proper chanting done, with Teddy at his side for support.

As he watched the two lovebirds settle into the back, Tommy’s heart felt a pang. He ignored it and sat right at the front, arms crossed, foot tapping.

He was coming for Noh-Varr, and all other plans about infiltrating an army and escaping without discovery could come later.

Tommy always did work better under pressure.

Now that they had their immediate goal in front of them, the team settled into a rhythm, their work needed to be achieved and the consequences would rain down on their heads later. The ship and Vision’s expertise took them away from Earth faster than anyone could make a comment on the fact they were really going through with this. Though if they were lucky, they might catch the fleet before they arrived back on Hala. That was if you considered running into a contingent of Kree warships lucky.

But the journey would take a while, even with Billy guiding and boosting the ship and Vision at the controls. 

“So...we’re with you on this Tommy. But we’re doing it...because it’s right. For you. And don’t pretend you won’t get anything out of having him back, we’re way past that point. And you did have really loud sex next to all of us in the other room. We just need to know you’re with us at this point. We need a plan. Otherwise, none of us are coming home.”

Tommy cleared his throat in lieu of some other embarrassing sound or reaction to the sex comment. Fine, though. If it would get his team off his back and focused on the goal.

“I’m his hala. And I’m okay with that.” It was all he’d supply, letting the rest of them make the connection between the homeplanet name and what it meant for Tommy to wear that label.

When everyone seemed settled enough with the weight of his words and the implications that Tommy was in fact head over heels for someone that wasn’t himself, the speedster went on.

“We can’t use the front door. We’re going to have to rely on the witch and Vision to keep us incognito. Once we’re actually in...if they think he’s gone, they’ll look for him. Their principles are so up their ass they’ll destroy the world.”

He nodded, firm in his plot. “We’re going to fake his death. Only logical reason.”

Of course, because such a plan to be executed on a foreign planet with a military so fierce the world could hardly stand a chance was a simple task.

“Fake his death. Oh my god, Tommy, you have got to be joking!” Cassie choked out from where she was situated on Vision’s shoulder, even though she was currently tiny, her voice carried loud and clear through the ship.

“And how are we going to do that? Will he be locked up again? Do you know anything else about his planet?” Kate tried to ignore the impossible suggestion and work with what she had. Any tactic they could make would rely on scraps of information Noh-Varr threw Tommy between their...bouts of rampant sex. Because obviously, a lot of it had happened.

“He’s really in love,” the whisper was conspiratorial and for Teddy’s ear only, too quiet to reach the speedster’s attention. Billy gave his beloved a glance, one that spoke volumes of his reason to support this crazy mission, “he’s gonna get us all into big, big trouble. Why are we doing this obviously not smart thing again?”

Teddy smirked and leaned closer to Billy. “Because Tommy’s in love and it happens to be the right thing, which usually means it’s not smart.”

Tommy, ignorant of their conspiracies, shrugged at Kate. “They’re all stiffs from what I get and I have a feeling he’s locked up. Just a gut one. He said he wasn’t a good Kree and no doubt they’re going to make him an example.”

What images conjured up at the mentioning of Noh-Varr in a cell had to be squashed. Tommy rubbed his brow and added, “As much as I’d like to cause them trouble, this is covert.”

“I never thought I’d live through the day you’d say those words,” Kate gave Tommy an eyebrow and a smirk, then she was addressing Vision, asking him to pull up everything in his library about Kree, their lives and their homes. 

*  
The fleet had made it back to Hala, but Noh’s joy at the reunion with his homeworld was very, very diminished. This wasn’t his Hala, this wasn’t even his dimension and the Kree here, though experimental in their stages of creating hybrids, very different to people he used to be proud of belonging to.

No, it had been explained to him, very clearly. With his return from Earth, the options of improving their own scientific research through analyzing him would be explored. He’d failed his purpose as a diplomatic, adaptable soldier, so it was only logical for him to be recycled in function, so to say. He would provide blueprints for the augmentation process that he’d been created with, rather than locked away to rot in a prison. The Kree were not primitive barbarians after all.

He couldn’t find himself worried about his fate anymore. Not when his world was thousands of lightyears away, not when his home was now a little blue ball containing the most precious thing in the universe to him. But Tommy would be safe on Earth. At least from the Kree. At least he’d achieved that small comfort to his mind.

*

“Is he done yet?”

Teddy frowned at Tommy’s insistence, but he kept his tone gentle where Tommy’s was almost frantic. “Billy will find him soon, just don’t rush it.”

Tommy scoffed and deflated against the seat. They were airborne still, not quite in space, yet might as well have been given their length of time cooped up here. Vision was doing his task of keeping them out of Kree sights and senses, but soon they would have to abandon his defense to whatever Hala had to supply them in heavy doses.

“Ah! I got him!”

Tommy leapt instantly over his seat, rushing over to his twin’s side. “Where is he? Is he okay? Is he hurt?”

It was a good thing he had his back to Kate and Cassie as the two shared a knowing smirk, as if they ached to capture Tommy’s behavior on video for later revisiting.

“Shut up,” Billy growled, eyes bright as his hand was. “He’s not in a prison. I think. Looks like...a kind of hospital.”

Tommy bounced on his toes, wondering what that meant. Was Noh-Varr hurt? No. Most likely he was under experimentations again, offering his services and loyalty in another way that wasn’t as a soldier. Tommy clenched his jaw to combat the constriction in his chest.

“Okay,” Billy said. “I’m opening a pathway.”

“Wait,” Tommy said, hating the word having belonged to him. “Let me go first.”

“What--”

“You guys will be a liability if someone else goes in first and realizes the portal ends up in a room full of soldiers. Let me go first and I can send you all a message if it’s clear to follow. You know I’m right.”

They didn’t have the luxury of denying Tommy’s logic, and so he would go first.

But there would be no soldiers to greet them, because Noh-Varr no longer required guarding. He’d done this...not out of free will, but out of necessity. That was why he was laying here, next to the tank he spent his days in during a small respite. The new nanites felt...odd. They made him so very tired, too tired to think, too tired to remember much further than a couple of hours ago. Maybe it was the OS. Maybe they had not adjusted things right. 

He would tell someone, right after this procedure. How much longer would he hear the high-pitched crescendo reverberate through him as the two scientists cut into his flesh, testing the nanites’ responses and his body’s automatic rerouting of the pain? He’d need another artificial blood pack, this was definitely too much blood to heal easily from without a transfusion. 

He closed his eyes again, there was nothing but the ceiling lamp above him anyway. Might as well keep himself in the few memories that persisted in his mind. So much blue...Hala wasn’t blue. Why was he thinking of blue...and green? 

Tommy had an abundance of fear as he stepped into the portal, but courageous people weren’t those without fear. They were the ones brimming with it yet pressed forward anyway, and if that forward meant finding Noh-Varr, Tommy would have been a poster boy of fear if that’s what it took.

There was a rush, as if tumbling through a sea of space, and then a bright room.

And there he was, in the center.

Tommy stared, a few achingly slow seconds as he registered that that was Noh-Varr, alive, there, and just...there.

Tommy was over to him in a flash, hands scrambling over the body. He had to bite back a grimace at knowing what had and would continue to be done to the alien. The goal came first. Search for injuries. Check the perimeter, should have done that first, hiccup in Tommy’s logic.

Then, he was cupping a face he didn’t dare let go. “Noh-Varr. It’s me. Hey, can you hear me?”

This wasn’t quite right. Something was disturbing the procedure. Or was it already finished? Why couldn’t he remember the scientists finishing up and leaving? Had been asleep or just deactivated like some form of cyborg?

There was a touch on his face. That was even stranger. What could they possibly learn from his face? He opened his eyes and his head jerked back slightly. The person...the creature cradling him was certainly not one of the researchers, there was no protective gear, nothing.

And the language...didn’t even sound like Kree.

“‘s this another combat test? Or...adaptive?”

Tommy’s heart screamed. Outward, he swallowed and then cursed.

“Tommy.”

He tossed a glance over his shoulder to find his team stumbling from Billy’s teleportation. Already Vision was gliding forward and examining the machines, processing the next move to undo whatever had been done to Noh-Varr.

All the while Tommy stroked Noh-Varr’s face, eyes darting between him and Vision.

“Well?” he snapped.

“I need a moment,” Vision said. 

He tapped and fiddled with things Tommy had no clue about, so he poured his efforts onto the Kree while his team did what they thought was best.

“Hey,” he tried again, hoping to coax out some sense from Noh-Varr. “It’s me. Your...hala. Tom-My, remember?” 

A mad conclusion leapt into Tommy’s heart then upon hearing his own words and he leaned forward, kissing, leaving his mouth against Noh-Varr’s as his hand clutched a limp one.

The Kree seemed sluggish to react, but he moved beneath Tommy’s hands, confusion creasing his face as he processed the alien language. He stilled absolutely when Tommy mentioned hala though and his mouth descended on Noh’s.

Vision gave a surprised grunt as the machines, in front of him, so still a moment ago, began whirring and spitting out records that meant nothing to any of them.

“Whatever you just activated seems to have triggered,” the synthezoid looked over the 3D diagram, lighting up in different areas, “...something in his nanites? Tommy? This is incredibly fascinating!”

Noh-Varr didn’t fight the touch, nor the kiss, his mind quietly reawakening, not with a roar but with a whisper.

Hala. His hala was here, calling for him, begging for him...

Murky sky-blue clung to Tommy, recognition still absent, but the affection crowding into his gaze spoke for itself.

“Hala...I’m going home?”

Tommy’s chest didn’t seem capable of storing all of the twinges and aches Noh-Varr was causing them. A shaky breath and Tommy forced himself to smile, then whip his head up at Vision as the words connected.

“I think I’m getting through to him. How much longer? Can you figure it out?”

Machines and nobs and diagrams sucked in Vision’s attention, his hands always moving.

“Vision!” Tommy said.

Vision didn’t pay him a glance. “Just a moment longer...”

“Tommy.” It was Kate, coming up to the other side of Noh-Varr. “We’re going to have to get going on your brilliant plan whether or not he comes out of it.”

Tommy knew what she was saying, that he had to stop clinging, to let go of Noh-Varr’s hand, and the prospect left the speedster cold.

“Hold on,” he threw her way, eyes back on Noh-Varr. 

There was a moment of pinched eyes and looks of concentration as Tommy rummaged and pulled out files that his brain wouldn’t forget about the Kree. Noh-Varr had supplied him a few words in Kree, but they had gotten little progress because of how frustrating and unattractive Tommy found the language.

Despite that, he poured himself into pronouncing each strange syllable as he said in broken Kree. “Home. With. I. Tom-My. Hala Tom-My. Home Earth. Rescue. Take, um, you. You. Tom-My.”

The sky-hued eyes had followed their conversation, though they lacked the clear focus Noh-Varr usually displayed so easily, lacked the understanding of the English language even if it was still present somewhere in his artificially suppressed memories. He understood the Kree, even if it was terribly pronounced and enunciated.

“Tom-My,” he repeated, giving the slightest of nods. His bandaged arm was sluggish, his body responding to the sudden taxation of movement with protests. 

“So, what now? How are we gonna fake his death and get him out of here? He looks pretty bad, Billy’s gonna have to teleport him,” Eli stood guard by the door and the noise outside was cause for plenty of concern.

Tommy wasn’t finished, and he was about to dive into something he knew the team would scream as stupid, but if he didn’t do this now, he’d regret it and if Noh-Varr never made it...

A screeching halt in his mind and the thoughts were no more for now. Tommy straightened, stroked Noh-Varr’s face, then leaned forward again for another kiss.

“Take him,” he said, looking at Billy. “I need Vision. He’s the one that has all the data to make them think the corpse is Noh-Varr.” At least, he hoped that’s how smoothly it’d go down, but Tommy was not much of a hoper.

“Corpse?” Teddy asked, a deep frown on his face.

“How the hell do you think we can fake a death without a corpse?”

“I think he means where are you getting this corpse,” Kate said, unable to keep the sarcastic tone out of her voice. It seemed a defense mechanism they all used in times of near-death.

Tommy heard the commotion outside balloon. He smirked.

“No,” Kate said.

Tommy was a blur as he shot out of the room.

Billy couldn’t even begin to sort through all the problems he had with this situation and especially with his twin’s plan, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a conscious sack of Kree was pushed his way, courtesy of his own boyfriend.

“Billy, we can discuss this at length later and rage about how dumb this all is, but for now you really have to take him and go back. No bitching, just witching.”

Noh-Varr didn’t understand these creatures, but he was being moved around, away from his hala and that didn’t feel right. He groaned Tommy’s name and attempted to move away from the awful blue light.

Tommy took all feelings, thoughts, and images of Noh-Varr and fueled his speed as he whipped through foreign territory. There were soldiers, it seemed everyone was, and their technology was advanced in Earth’s eyes. Pity that it seemed no such technological advancement had yet to be created to handle a marplot with speed none of their soldiers could match, even when blinking.

Young Avengers didn’t kill, but that didn’t assuage the urge to lunge at the soldiers and break their limbs until they each personally apologized for Noh-Varr’s treatment. At the best, Tommy settled for breaking a few noses, stealing the breath of those who got pummeled by his kinetic energy or tackles, and pressed on.

It wasn’t difficult with the brain processing and speedy legs to find what he’d been looking for. It didn’t matter what race, what time period. There would always be the dead among them. Tommy didn’t know if it was some kind of hospital wing or a morgue, everything looking unlike what would be found on Earth.

Some fishing around and Tommy selected a body, eternally pleased that there was one that matched Noh-Varr’s overall physical descriptors. There was a file attached and Tommy perused it. A soldier. Well, he had one more duty to perform.

“Are you out of your mind? Wait, don’t answer.”

Tommy spun and smirked at Eli.

“Need your strength,” he said, patting the corpse. 

“That doesn’t look exactly like him.”

“No one does when you’re burnt to a crisp.”

“Jesus, Tommy.”

Tommy hardened his stare. “You can punish me later if it’s so morbid. Get him back to Vision. I’ll handle the soldiers. The alarm’s going to go off any moment. They’re not stupid.”

Eli, for once, conformed to Tommy’s plan, taking the dead soldier with some chargrin and hastily departing to bring him to Vision so they could leave this planet before the real crisis started.

Tommy was alone when the alarm went off. And not just in the hospital. It rang out across the city and running feet, hydraulic steps and military orders, shouted in Kree, were headed their way. Hala did not deal well with home invasion.

Billy was aboard the ship, depositing Kate and Cassie, before teleporting once more, he still had to grab Teddy, Eli and Tommy, Vision wouldn’t have any trouble escaping on his own or at the very least, he didn’t need actual physical grabbing.

At the sight of the corpse on the table, he blanched, the Kree didn’t look anything like Noh-Varr, so Tommy probably planned to make him unrecognizable. Billy really didn’t need to find out what burning Kree flesh smelled like.

“Can we please be done with this? We’ve got a planet full of angry aliens and a delirious bugboy on our ship.”

Tommy was all deep breaths and light toes when he barrelled through, startling those who had yet to be teleported.

“They’re pissed,” he said, ignoring the ‘you think?’ faces he was cast. He hurried to the corpse and glanced around.

“Unless you don’t mind a bit of fetid air, you better get back to the ship.”

For once, it was pleasant to hear no protests. Eli remained, insisting that someone had to serve as an anchor during all this madness. Billy was allowed to teleport, though required to stay on hand when he received signal to snatch up the last two members of their team.

Tommy pointed at something, which Eli retrieved with an even droopier frown, if possible.

“Explosion?” he asked, peering over at the locked door. “You’re going to set off an entire room? You are nuts. How do you know it won’t spread and involve innocent people?”

“Chaos is my specialty,” Tommy replied. “I saw how well equipped they are to handle a fire. Vision took care of the hard stuff to make it look like we weren’t after anyone.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Maybe the Skrulls got a little bitter and sent a message.”

Eli balked. “You’re joking.”

Tommy sighed. “Eli, they’ve been at each other’s throats for years. That’s not going to change. Now shut the hell up and let me blow some stuff up.” The last bit he snapped out, and Eli shut up, but not without flipping him off for the sake of it.

When the explosion detonated, thanks to some well aimed kinetic energy and rage, Tommy tackled Eli to the corner, and both shielded their eyes and faces while the blue light’s hand seized them and hauled them back to a familiar ship.

This plan, foolhardy, hasty, really not a plan but more of a suggestion. It was either dumb luck or some cosmic entity holding their hands over the Young Avengers that they’d even gotten this far.

Back on the ship though, the trouble was far from over. Kate was flying manually, she had to, because the Kree ships protecting Hala had found the intruder and Billy was no longer strong enough to shield them from the sensors. The little Earth ship wouldn’t hold out for long at this rate.

Noh had been deposited somewhere in the background, unfortunately slightly restrained, because a thrashing, half-coherent Kree soldier was not useful when you tried to escape a volley of cosmic rays and other unhealthy things.

Tommy cried out and crashed into a seat as their ship teetered and dove and dipped. “Persistent bastards. Vision!”

“I am here,” Vision said, taking his spot at Kate’s side, supporting what the archer could not accomplish on her own.

“We have to go another route,” Eli’s voice was booming from somewhere, but Tommy hardly listened to it as he dragged himself to Noh-Varr.

The Kree was a mess, feral and trying to escape, and soon would if Tommy bet any money on it. It was embarrassing any other day, but given the constant tilt and spin of the ship, Tommy had little option but to settle into the Kree’s lap, arms looped around his shoulders, both for leverage and for gaining his attention.

“Noh-Varr,” he shouted, loud enough so he would be the center of attention. Kree was all he had, and he utilized it as best as someone in a vessel being hunted down and with little knowledge on the language he was employing to pull sense out of the alien.

“Me,” Tommy said, cupping his face hard and forcing their eyes to lock. “Hala. Me.” He shut his eyes tightly and grunted as he felt the ship quiver with a blow. “Me. Rescue. You. Have you. Tom-My.” 

Really, Tommy wouldn’t have needed to shout, Noh-Varr’s hearing was much more sensitive than he could imagine and even in the noisy ship full of voices and beeping alerts, Tommy could have whispered and he would have heard him.

Concern was too mild an expression to describe Noh’s face. He was being hauled off of his home planet on a ship full of people he could not remember, with nothing to hold onto but this one young creature who spoke in broken Kree, who claimed him as his by repeating those words.

It wasn’t his nature to hide from conflict or tests, so he just stilled beneath Tommy, fixated by his gaze, letting his arms, which had been ripping at the restraints, just sink. He leaned his head forward, pressed it into Tommy’s shoulder and didn’t speak.

“So the good news, we made it out of orbit and we’re leaving the solar system,” Kate announced from the front, “and the bad news is there is no way we can make it back to Earth on this pod because it is shot to hell.”

It sounded miles away, what with Tommy’s world gravitating around Noh-Varr and nothing else, even as the ship rocked with each assault. His thumbs continued stroking Noh-Varr’s face, and gradually he glanced around, eyes settling on the view beyond their ship.

“There,” Eli said, pointing to a planet that was not Earth. “We have no choice but to land. We can’t make it back in this state and Billy’s too drained to even fix up the ship as it is.”

Teddy blew out a breath of relieved air, cradling his spent boyfriend. 

“Just need,” Billy breathed, “rest.”

“Shut up,” Tommy said, but his words weren’t angry. “We got out. That’s what matters.” 

As he felt the poor ship struggle to enter an alien atmosphere for the second time, Tommy kissed Noh-Varr and embraced him tightly, burying his face in his neck.

“Hala,” he repeated, softer, almost a whisper. “I won’t let you go. I promised.”

The ship made it to the surface of a frozen world, the landscape broken by harsh peaks of black mountains, pine forests stretching through valleys. Actually, it looked a lot like Earth if you ignored the twin moons and the rather purple light emanating from the nearest star. Vision confirmed breathable air and no toxin in the atmosphere.

They had landed in something that looked like north european forest, alright.

First order of business was to assess the damage and make sure they weren’t followed. Vision stayed with the ship of course, Kate, by virtue of being an archer, would go ‘hunting’ with Eli to find something edible. They’d be spending enough time here for Billy to recover at least.

Noh-Varr had not inched from Tommy’s side, had not even left the embrace. He may be calm now, but Vision did not have the right equipment to help him out further this instant. 

“I cannot do anything for him right now, Tommy. It would be more helpful if you could...assist the others, gather wood, or walk, or anything. I need some solitude to concentrate here.”

A very polite way of kicking them off of the ship, really. Noh-Varr did not seem thrilled by the chilly dusky environment. The night was beginning on this world.

“This is not home, I was on Hala, why did you bring me here? Hala, they must resume the tests, the blueprints were not finished, I am not dismantled. Tom-My?”

To be ripped off of Noh-Varr, even by words and not force, was just another thing Tommy had to suck up. He held the Kree’s face and focused on his enunciation.

“I am Hala. Protect. Keep safe you. No hurt. No tests. No all bad no. Stay. Soon. Tom-My return.” To solidify the pact, Tommy kissed him again, by now lacking any awkward tingles when he knew others were looking.

Vision was right. He was best suited to scout ahead, so Tommy bundled his emotions into a cold wrap in the pit of his gut, and dashed off.

If he didn’t know better, this was Earth in sounds, feel, and beauty. At least, the places Tommy had visited, and he had visited plenty of Earth’s still beautiful lands. Hostility was nowhere to be found within a mile of their ship, but beyond that invisible perimeter, Tommy keened into noises that sounded...animalistic. A thrum. A pack of something? A distant village?

What natives awaited them would certainly not be pleased by a crash landing, so Tommy set up primitive activation sensors. Scraps of metal or trinkets from the ship and what he scavenged, linking them between trees so if someone wandered over, at least they’d get a warning.

Whilst Tommy was scouting, the others set up a rough camp. A fire, necessary to grill the animal that Kate had hunted. It was a deer-like creature and after Vision’s analysis, safe to eat once thoroughly cooked. Eli had dragged logs to sit on and firewood, Cassie had raided what she could for blankets from the ship and found the water filter. It was almost cozy, like they were out camping, on a foreign world in the middle of the forest.

Noh-Varr had sat rooted to the spot Tommy had left him in, without speaking a word. Like a sentinel or a statue, he stared into the direction Tommy had gone in, taking deep breaths with his hands clenched into the ground he sat on.

No one really knew what to say or do, none of them spoke Kree and none of them knew what to say. Noh-Varr was not the same as when they’d last seen him, and even though Tommy was obviously relieved their mission had been a success, there remained the subject of what the hell they were going to do with the Kree now. Take him back to Earth, that much was obvious. There was no way a living, breathing Tommy would be without him again. He didn’t have to confess or act romantic for everyone to get the jist. Somehow, their trouble-making speed-freak had fallen in love with this ruined alien.

“We should...do something about him. Can we fix him? He didn’t even seem to recognize any of us and I’m not sure he really knows who he is...or who Tommy is.”

Billy, recovered slightly, or at least enough to sit around the fire, cuddled into Teddy’s protective arm, glanced over to the still Kree again. He wanted to believe Tommy’s affection and Vision’s knowledge would be enough to cure Noh-Varr of whatever ailed him, but this condition didn’t seem all that hopeful.

And the last thing he wanted to see was a heartbroken Tommy, not now that the speedster had finally discovered his heart enough to give it to this man, this strange, troubled man from another world. 

By the time Tommy returned, he felt as though he ran around the world thrice. His feet were weary, heat heavy, and it was the sight of Noh-Varr that kept his spine erect when he wanted to slouch then crumble face first into the foreign dirt.

“Looks like we’re staying the night,” Tommy said. “Cozy.” He navigated around them, crouching, then sitting beside Noh-Varr, smiling as those eyes followed him wherever he went.

“They have altered him,” Vision said from behind. “I lack the required tools to progress, but there is a possibility he may recognize himself with time until then.”

“How likely?” Tommy preferred numbers.

“Less than fifteen percent at the moment.”

Tommy nodded, and left it at that. The cold stone in him enlarged and he acted as if it was the same size. Busying himself with Noh-Varr’s face was best, and every nerve seemed devoted to that task alone.

“Hey,” he said, stroking his brows, his nose, his jaw. “Tom-My.” He guided Noh-Varr’s hand to his chest. “Noh-Varr.” He touched Noh-Varr with his own hand. Again to Tommy’s chest. “Hala.”

It was not unlike conversing with a gorilla learning sign language, but Tommy rejected the notion that there was a stranger inside of Noh-Varr, that his heart, which he had given without ever knowing, was shriveling up inside the alien.

Tommy felt wrinkles carving into that heart and he leaned forward, forehead on the Kree’s shoulder.

From across the fire, Teddy and the others watched, and somehow it seemed unfair that Tommy of all people was in the gravity of this situation when Teddy and Billy were pressed together, aware of each other and their affection for one another.

The Kree watched him with curious eyes, as if he was eager to learn, and yet had difficulty understanding the purpose of all of this. Tommy’s heartfelt guidance did something though, he lifted his arms and settled them on Tommy’s hips, fingers gliding over his clothed body as if tracing something he revered, something so precious it could break in an instant of unwanted or clumsy pressure.

“Tom-My,” he echoed, face turned to that snowy shock of hair, taking a deep breath of the speedster’s scent, sweat and woodlands and all, then giving a sigh that might have been relief.

“My hala...came for me. I am yours...I belong with you.” 

He was still speaking Kree, but slowly, clearly, aware that Tommy was not particularly fluent in his language.

Tommy tensed, panic racking his body, panic that told him what he had picked up on was misunderstood, a product of his desperate imagination and his exhaustion.

Hope, that flicker that was frail as it was easy to smother, that same flicker Tommy mocked and yet somehow must have ridden to be where he was, swelled and made him believe he had not heard wrong.

“Yes,” Tommy breathed, then shook his head quickly and repeated the word in Kree. He leaned back, letting his body melt into the touch. “Rescue. Protect.” He grasped his jaw fiercely. “Mine.”

No one seemed intent to disrupt the moment, whether it was Noh-Varr’s recognition returning or a cruel joke of some deity beyond their reach. Eli had to grunt though and stood up when the sound of the trinkets Tommy hung clamored against one another.

“Tommy, we need you.”

Tommy winced, but he had heard it, though he’d hoped it was not what he suspected. “Yeah,” he called back, then squeezed Noh-Varr’s hand. “Stay.”

Noh-Varr’s gaze clouded, his brow drew down into a frown. His hala certainly seemed to be spending a lot of time running away from him, and he looked so tired. The Kree got to his feet the moment Tommy left him to sit, stretching, briefly, feeling his wrists for gauntlets he didn’t have. 

“I will go with you, Tom-My. You are my hala. I must protect you too.” 

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t remember how they met. He knew he was supposed to stay with this young whirlwind, knew he was more important than anything else. He concentrated, stared at Tommy, mind hard at work before he managed to twist his tongue into obedience and it expunged a very interesting, accented English.

“I will fight for you.”

The entire team might as well have thought they’d gone deaf. Noh-Varr’s words rung in their ears, a chime so loud though he hadn’t shouted that it was deafening. Tommy was the first to react, as he often was, and it wasn’t a dramatic expression. After all, Tommy had let the cold stone bury itself deep in his core.

“Okay,” he said, and touched his palm over Noh-Varr’s chest. Noh-Varr might be in there still, he must have if he knew who Tommy was. The hard possibility that the alien only followed him under the influence of what the speedster had been feeding him.

He made a gesture and was off, zipping through and up trees. He didn’t have to get far to hear and feel the ground quivering with the force of either something very big or small but in enormous numbers. Or both.

Perched on a branch, Tommy saw them stalking the earth with trained precision. Natives, perhaps, but not at all human. Larger than Hulkling, definitely more vicious. Were they tracking him back to the camp?

He tried to find Noh-Varr, and settled for gritting his teeth and rushing down. There wasn’t the luxury of time to warn Kate and the others that would trail behind with caution. Tommy dove right for the group of savages, blew a raspberry at them, flailed, and when their fury came out in screeches and foreign croaks, he blew past them all, leading them west.

Noh-Varr had not been able to keep up with Tommy, a notion that disturbed his mind greatly. So greatly he had to track the young man by scent. It blew past him in an arch, and a horde of bumbling creatures broke through the forest line. 

His instincts took over and he braced himself for battle. The creatures were armed with rudimentary weapons at best and though they dwarfed him with massive size, their movements were lumbering, slow, uncoordinated. Without so much as a growl, he launched into their numbers, striking down whatever he could touch before dodging a crude sword, an axe, a shield thrown for good measure.

The fight pumped unknown strength into him, fuelled his body into greater feats of agility, of speed, even white-running without conscious decision. He was built for this, he could feel it. His body was the result of perfect scientific research into the ultimate survivor, the last soldier standing. 

Another massive axe swung his way and he nearly doubled backwards, close to the ground before he could sweep the legs out from under his assailant.

By the time Tommy returned to the scene, or chose to enter it, the last of the natives lay bloody and still at Noh’s feet.

Tommy had felt dread and concern rush up his spine when the sounds of chase dwindled to cries, bellows even, and guttural groans. Upon dashing back, he staggered to a graceless halt, finding the natives crumbling, what was left of them anyway, at Noh-Varr’s feet.

“Shit,” he said, then laughed. Memories of Noh-Varr tearing his team apart flew at him, and he shouldn’t have been surprised at the display.

He rushed to Noh-Varr, touching him, assuring he was unharmed, and smiling at the feeling of battling by his side, just like when they’d kicked ass through the Cube before, well, that was done and done.

But Tommy should have calculated on archers in the distance, hulking through the rough terrain. He only knew it as a hiss of air, and trusting his gut, Tommy lunged at Noh-Varr, nudging him just enough out of the way to take the arrow himself, straight into his back.

 

Noh-Varr had perked up, the rush running through him only enhanced when his hala returned, pleased with his prowess, looking happy to see him unharmed and useful. Noh felt the tug of memories at the back of his mind, a creeping hand that stroked over his numb thoughts, leylines of oil waiting to be inflamed. And now the fire was so close so-

Tommy lunged at him, then crumpled in his arms, body trembling with the shock of...there was something sticking out of Tommy’s back. Noh-Varr felt the rush turn into cold fury and agony when he realized that his hala was in fact in pain and wounded. Panic jumped through him, immobilized him for seconds. But they weren’t alone. Arrows were whistling through the air around them. Noh-Varr caught several to keep Tommy from further injury, gathering the human up into his arms as carefully as he could. And then he ran. Tommy was first. Protect hala. 

He arrived at the small encampment like a small, stampeding herd, yelling at the startled group he’d just showered in dirt for help in Kree, then when they didn’t move fast enough, he switched to english.

“Hala hurt! Help me!”

Tommy heard the bedlam in patches of sound, in between his blood roaring in his ear, or was it Noh-Varr’s. The pain. It hurt like a bitch, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Something burned inside of him, his skin felt prickly and hot, and if he wasn’t so lost in the constantly tilting world, he would recognize he was poisoned, his speedy attributes the sole thing besides Noh-Varr’s quick acting that kept him alive.

Kate had seen and felt Noh-Varr pummel past her as she and Cassie trailed behind the two boys, still too far but more keeping an eye on trouble than engaging it like the two had. She and Cas hurried back, hearing the swell of roars hovering in the distance.

Despite his tired limbs, Billy jolted up first, hurrying with the others.

“Tommy,” he shouted.

“Careful,” Teddy said, gently slapping his boyfriend’s hands aside. “Look. His back.” He knew they had little time to argue or debate, even he could pick up the edges of a battle cry in the distance. 

Unable to speak Kree, Teddy held out his arms, hoping Noh-Varr understood. Noh-Varr was better off aiding the team than worrying over Tommy.

There was a long moment of Noh-Varr staring hard at Teddy, so hard it might melt the molecules of the hybrid as Noh’s arms tightened around Tommy. But he could do nothing to help his hala, he wasn’t made for healing, he was made for battle. With the most reluctant of gazes, he extended his arms, handing Tommy over. He lingered a moment longer, whispering frightened promises to the speedster, a brief nuzzle into his bright hair, before he took off once more to tear apart those that had dared to hurt Tommy.

Noh-Varr stormed past Cassie, Kate and Eli without a single glance, disappearing from their sight in a blur of white. 

“They’re meant for eachother,” Cassie said, perched and clinging to Kate’s shoulder. “They totally go off the deep end when something bad happens.”

“Save the commentary,” Eli said, waving his hand at Kate. “Come on. Vision and Billy will stay behind.”

Billy would have protested, but the sight of his twin was enough to stifle it and he lowered down, allowing Teddy to tuck the speedster into his awaiting lap. “I can get us out of here if you give me fifteen minutes,” he said.

Teddy held his eyes, nodding in silent understanding. They could leave sooner, provided that they were able to scoop Noh-Varr out of his rampage in time. However, Billy knew Tommy’s health was first and would pour his magic first into ensuring that they would leave as a team, and not leaving a corpse behind like back in Hala.

In his arms, Tommy’s body battled spasms, and he whined, the best he could muster for sound, when strong arms were replaced with those more like his own. What was he to do though, under the weight of poison or whatever it was that had him want to sleep for years.

So, Tommy slept, while his twin and Vision loomed over him, and a battle dominated by a Kree with a cold gaze exploded in the distance.

Noh-Varr was not to be stopped. He’d caught arrows, crushed spines and killed everything in his path without mercy. Built for war, he fulfilled his initial purpose to perfection. The few injuries he did receive were minimal, the nanites in his body exploding into action to reroute the pain into the strange music that paced the fight into an absurd mockery of a dance. A violent, blood-showered dance. 

Fifteen minutes were all it took. Noh-Varr relished in the last of his foes, took delight in his pain as he took the creature’s limbs, one by one. For his hala had been hurt and his wrath would not be sated until he bathed in the blood of those who dared to commit this atrocity.

Though Kate and the others, minus Billy and Vision, had hurried after the Kree, part concerned for the alien’s well being, the spectacle that unleashed itself under Noh-Varr’s wrath had them stunned into stillness. 

Noh-Varr required no assistance, and more than once the team considered his behavior, so similar, to when he’d taken them and the Runaways down as though it were a precursor to a greater challenge. They stared, raised weapons and arms for show and nothing else.

No one dared to coax him back yet, terrified his behavior would extend to them, anything to satisfy the bloodlust that had set him off. The burden fell to Teddy, now in Hulkling shape, for, in all honesty, if anyone was to endure a blow, he would manage it.

For luck, or as backup, a tiny Cas leapt to his shoulder. 

“Noh-Varr,” Teddy said, carefully and with his hands up in submission. The Kree was seeming to study the massacre at his feet, perhaps reliving each death in his mind.

“Noh-Varr,’ he said again, and knowing the only other words that could make sense, added, “Tom-My. Hala.” He hoped that was enough to lure the alien back. 

Noh-Varr had growled, a deep, threatening sound rumbling through his chest when Teddy approached, but the raised hands and submissive look seemed to appease his animalistic state.

He listened carefully and identified the words, his stance slackening for a brief second before he was tense once more. He leaned down to rip into one of the creature’s ribcages, pulling out something that might have been a heart. Apparently, even this savage side of Noh held some notion of romance. However grotesque it may be.

“Tom-My,” he nodded, assuring the others he’d understood before setting off once more, clearly not concerned with the rest of the group and not slowing until he’d reached the encampment, where he promptly slid to the ground into a crouch beside Billy and Tommy. He studied the wound, studied his hala’s face, and the tugged at his chin, bringing up the disgusting lump of flesh in his hand.

“Eat.”

Teddy followed dumbly behind, the others swift at his heels. What else was one to do, let alone say, at having heard the crunch of bones popping and going crooked, and having seen the sight of a heart squished in the alien’s palm. There was no point in coaxing the Kree to leave behind the organ.

Too bad no one could alert Billy, and the mage tensed and almost screamed at the sight of something slick and noisy as Noh-Varr handled it, its blood more purple than red and dribbling. His grip on Tommy hardened, his magic still coiling around the speedster as a blanket might.

When he’d pushed the thing to Tommy’s mouth, Billy almost lashed out on instinct, were it not for a claw pressing calmly on his shoulder, promising him all would be okay. As okay as things could be.

Tommy hardly registered much as the magic purred and lulled him to rest, then the comfort was spoiled by someone moving him, pushing something with a pungent odor he nearly vomited in their face.

But his eyes, rheumy and fatigued, saw Noh-Varr.

Tommy heard the echo of the command, and he didn’t question what the Kree fed him and bit into the nastiest texture he would later come to realize he’d ever had.

There was a pleased little sigh from Noh-Varr when Tommy took a bite and he moved the organ away. It was all Tommy would need, just one small piece of the admittedly less than appetizing piece of flesh. 

With the most gentle of tugs, blood-drenched hands dislodged Tommy from Billy’s grip and Noh-Varr settled himself on the ground, whispering encouragement in Kree to snowy hair, streaked with crimson from his own hands. The world outside of Tommy did not matter to him, as long as his hala was safe in his grasp.

The rest of the YA had made it back safely, even if somewhat disturbed by what they had witnessed. 

“...did he just feed Tommy a raw heart? Is that some kind of weird Kree love thing or should we be concerned about our sociopath’s psychotic boyfriend?” Kate questioned the present and reasonably sane members of the group.

“No. Antidote,” Vision said after a patient analysis. “Tommy will recover, but he’ll need rest. It won’t be long before more of them arrive.”

Billy, shaken up from having Noh-Varr’s filthy hands pry Tommy away from him, nodded and gathered his wit, thinking he’d need a vacation after this at Tommy’s expense. But as he watched Noh-Varr stroke Tommy’s hair, he decided he could let the speedster off this one time.

“Come on,” he said to Teddy, tugging on his arm. If he was going to magic the ship to decency, he needed all the Teddy-support he could muster.

Unaware of them, Tommy shivered in Noh-Varr’s arms, feeling the nasty flesh dissolving inside him. He wouldn’t let go of what little lucidity he had, searching and searching until he saw Noh-Varr’s face.

Tommy cracked a weak smile. “Comes,” he inhaled sharply, “with the territory.”

He reached up, unable to touch the alien’s face, his hand wilting against his chest instead. “My,” he began, because you never knew when you were off to meet your maker, “hala.”

Noh-Varr stared down at him, eyes fixated on Tommy’s every breath, he moved his head down as far as possible and gathered up Tommy’s hand, pressing it to his cheek, nuzzling it with all the care he could muster. Which was plenty, apparently.

“My hala. You will be fine. I am here.”

How quickly a situation could turn around. The irony would not be lost on anyone, but the Young Avengers had too much on their collective minds to really appreciate any of it right now.

Noh-Varr held vigil over Tommy, appropriated one of the fallen blankets and wrapped it around the speedster once the arrow wound had been dressed. No one was allowed to touch Tommy, lest they might risk losing a hand.

It was almost pleasant, Tommy would decide if he was in the right mind to decide such things. All the pain was buffered by warmth, a stern voice that snapped at anyone that got close to them, a heartbeat, hands, and the scent that was Noh-Varr.

Tommy smiled more than once, though it was diluted down to its simplest form when hazy and near-delirious. Hala. That’s all there was above the pain, which was a dull throb by now. Then, sleep crept on him and claimed him, but Tommy would still think he was buried in Noh-Varr’s arms and accounted for the darkness.

Meanwhile Billy did his part, and they were slowly peeling away from the planet, in no rush now for fear of triggering unwanted attention. 

Vision remained close to Noh-Varr, even if he was not permitted to touch Tommy.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, in sudden Kree as though he knew it all his life. “Do you understand who this is?” He gestured to Tommy.

The Kree looked up at him, startled to suddenly hear his mother-tongue, smooth and flawless, from the machine’s mouth. His hands didn’t stop stroking through Tommy’s hair like it was his sworn duty to be the speedster’s sole protector and comfort.

“He is my lover, isn’t he? I do not remember...but I can feel it. He is beautiful...I wish I knew how I met him, how I came by such a hala...”

His gaze was tender, there was no denying that. Tommy belonged into his arms, that much was abundantly clear to him. But how this had come to be, he did not know. His memories weren’t clear, they lingered beyond his reach and something in him retracted every time he got too close, as if those shards were laced with poison and pain. 

There was only this warmth in his chest, where his heart was ready to be torn out and given to Tommy, should the young man desire it.

Vision looked at Tommy. “Yes, you are precious to him,” he said. “You may remember. I can help you, but even with my help, it will take time and may not be guaranteed. Do you want to remember it all, Noh-Varr?”

Even Vision could sense the team was perking up, listening to the language and what the tone insinuated. They all sensed something heavy in the words, a great now-or-never kind of moment, although they couldn’t tell what it was exactly beyond it relating to the unconscious speedster in Noh-Varr’s arms.

“You speak as if there is a great burden to be taken on if I say yes,” Noh looked back up at Vision, scrutinizing the synthezoid with suspicion. Was this all a lie? Was he living some form of false life and what would happen if he said no now? Would...his hala abandon him? Would all of this go away? Panic ebbed up in him at the thought. The only thing he’d clung to since waking was Tommy. He couldn’t bear to lose him.

“Will I remember falling in love with Tom-My?” he muttered.

Vision remained silent a moment, his emotionless expression betraying no thoughts as he considered the question.

“You will remember pain, great sorrow, Noh-Varr,” Vision said, honestly, “and after the pain, and there will be much, you will remember that Tommy took you away from it and became your Hala.”

He reached out, carefully, not to startle the Kree, and rested his palm on Tommy’s head. “Until then, he has the burden of memories alone. He has pain too, pain that only you can understand, and he will carry it alone until you remember. If you remember.”

There was no longer an if in his mind once Vision spoke of Tommy’s burden. How could he possibly allow that to be? How could he let his hala be in pain whilst he was ignorant and free of it? 

“Give me back my memories.” 

No wavering, no hesitation. It didn’t matter how much he’d have to endure or how painful memories could be. He didn’t know what kind of person he’d been before and maybe he would find himself more than disappointed with what would be revealed, but he could not be that selfish.

“Give me my pain so I can help him forget his.”

Vision removed his hand, and only those that knew him well enough would notice the shift in his face to be one of satisfaction.

“We will try then once we return. Until then, keep him safe. Rest.”

For there was nothing else to do until then.


	6. Chapter 6

As shitty as their landing had been on the strange planet, it went smoothly when Earth greeted them with her skyscrapers and lush mountains in the distant, her only savages those bullying through the streets to hail a taxi on time.

Awkward didn’t begin to cover the team’s homecoming. Captain America was waiting for them, not quite so literally, but he’d left a message that couldn’t be ignored. Or else he’d just show up later.

For the sake of humoring the Avenger, the team regrouped and decided Vision and Billy, once more, would best be suited at HQ tending to Tommy and his newfound ‘hala’. Teddy was needed to cushion any anger that arose out of Eli, Kate for diplomacy, and Cass to balance them all out.

So it was once again a split-up, Billy back in his civvies and guiding Noh-Varr to the bathroom where the two white-haired boys were in serious need of a bathroom.

“Um, tell him he can use this. Wash up. To call if he needs help. I’ll get food and clothes,” Billy said to Vision, who provided the translations. 

Vision did, and added at the end, “Work on your memory will come later.”

Noh-Varr, satisfied to be in some form of primitive civilization again, gave a nod. There was something oddly peaceful about this bustling planet and he felt an affinity tug at his hazy memories, the ones that wouldn’t obey his urgent wish for them to come forth and clarify themselves. He was left alone in the bathroom with Tommy. An unconscious body was harder to deal with than the semi-functional way Tommy seemed to operate in the past hours, so the Kree nuzzled his hala, stroked his face and repeated his name until he coaxed those emerald eyes open.

“Washing you,” he explained, in english, as his hands busied with the dirty and bloody suit Tommy still wore. He himself had stripped off very quickly.

“Bath with me?”

Tommy blinked slowly, which was still faster than the average person, and he yawned. A stretch went through his body, bones popping, organs shifting around, and a groan spilled out of him as the ache in his back. The burning had stopped at least.

“Where--Oh.” Tommy rubbed an eye and sagged deeper against Noh-Varr. They were back. They’d done it. Noh-Varr was alive.

Tommy should have been cavorting, but all he managed was to start peeling out of his suit while still a sack of bones against Noh-Varr, in much need of a bath.

He took that as a yes. Figuring out the mechanics and plumbing of the bathtub only took minutes, then Noh let the water pour in as he gathered his speedster close and settled them both in the odd container for water. There were rows of bottles lining the side, but he couldn’t fathom their purpose. Curious as he was in this oddly safe surrounding, he chose one and opened it.

A pleasant smell, although fairly chemical. He put it to his lips, wondering why they’d have drinks next to a container for water.

Tommy was still sprawled in Noh-Varr’s lap, legs bent to accommodate both their bodies in the tub, and all was fine with the world for now. At best he was drowsy, and at worst a little buzzed, and he didn’t want to lug himself back to sleep anytime soon now that his alien was back. All of it had been worth it, the ache in Tommy’s muscles, the chill of his cole, the pangs in his heart.

His semi-romantic mulling crashed to a halt upon Noh-Varr drinking shampoo. Tommy snatched it out of his hand and wanted to laugh if the exertion wasn’t too much.

“Idiot,” he said, and carefully he hauled himself up, squirting the shampoo into his hand. He reached over and massaged it into the Kree’s scalp, using one hand only. He wasn’t all that stable to extend both arms up.

“Like this. Cleanse,” Tommy said, smiling at how silly and nonthreatening a headful of shampoo made someone, even Noh-Varr, befall. He kissed him lightly around a chuckle, not caring if he was spreading the soapy suds onto Noh-Varr’s back and shoulders.

Everything tasted like a chemical combination supposedly resembling lemongrass, but Tommy’s kisses were nice. All of this felt...nice. Comfortable. Safe. Just like his hala should. He wondered if this is what he’d lived through before. Had he built himself a whole life, here, with Tommy? Had he abandoned the Kree way and ended up on an operating table in punishment for that crime? No one had explained to him how this all came to be, he’d only been told he’d see in his memories, he’d know then.

“I like this. Hala looks happy. But I wonder...did we live like this?”

The question smeared Tommy’s smile right off. His body was too weary to put up a front, his voice too buried inside to draw out sarcasm. Not with Noh-Varr, he wasn’t quite like that. There were moments he let himself relax and turned off his defense mechanisms, even if only for a minute, which was more than could be said about anyone who had shared Tommy’s presence.

“No, not exactly,” he said, tempted to just hit the Kree with the past. That wasn’t fair, and Tommy wouldn’t play fair usually, but for Noh-Varr he could this once.

“You did come here. We were...becoming together. For a few weeks, like this,” he said, and let his soapy fingers cup Noh-Varr’s neck the way Tommy liked to do so, fingertips tangling in his hair, thumbs stroking along the jaw and neck.

“And the rest I will remember, correct?” Noh-Varr sighed, he was sick of hearing about memories that continued to be denied to him. Of course his decision had not changed, he wanted to be as important and capable to Tommy as he should be and for that he needed his memories back, he needed his life back.

“I was different before, wasn’t I? When you learned to love me?”

Tommy didn’t retreat though his heart recoiled at that question. He steadied himself replaying Noh-Varr’s expression and feeling his skin beneath his wet fingers.

“Yeah,” he admitted, drawing him closer for an embrace. “But I made a promise. You’re still meant to be with me. Just because...you get sick, in body or head, no way would I be one of those assholes that leaves their girl or guy because of that. I’ll take care of you, even if,” he swallowed and took in a deep breath of the Kree’s scent before continuing, “even if you don’t remember it all.”

He felt guilty and he didn’t know why. He didn’t like this feeling. Actually, he had been feeling entirely too much ever since he woke up, maybe it had something to do with his memories or maybe he was just a dysfunctional Kree.

But nonetheless, he felt guilty right now.

“I am sorry,” he mourned the man that had made this human fall in love with him, he mourned the fact that it had not been he, how he was right now, that stirred Tommy’s heart, but just the memory of that man, “I am not your love.”

Tommy whipped back and seized his jaw as he had done forever ago. “You think someone loses their love just because they become a vegetable after an accident?” He was seething now and his grip was passing for decent instead of weak as it should have been by now. “True, the prefrontal lobe of the brain houses all of our personality, at least with humans, and I know that a good knock to that can literally change the person you thought you loved. But that person is still there, buried inside, always there and maybe never to come out again.  
But don’t you ever talk to me in that tone again,” he went on, eyes narrowing. “I will not be pitied, I will not be given that kind of look again. I know who you are. Whether it’s a spirit, a soul, an aura, I don’t know, but I know why people stay with that vegetable because they feel it too, and hope one day it comes out to see them again. Until then, and it may never come, you talk to me like that again and I’ll punch you right where it hurts most.”

It was the first time Tommy had taken anything but a kind tone with him and Noh-Varr, or rather, this husk of Noh-Varr, did not like it one bit. He suddenly didn’t feel the comfort of the warm water anymore as he struggled to understand why Tommy would invest in the hope of the return of his Noh-Varr, when he didn’t even know if those memories could be restored.

“Understood.”

Tommy caught onto everything, including the stiff tone Noh-Varr used, clearly having been taken aback with the lack of affection. Tommy swallowed his heart and swatted back the new pangs that entered his heart at that implication; Noh-Varr, while his still and forever, was tweaked, confused and lost all over again, devoid of the painful history he had.

Exhaling a string of some anxiety, Tommy stroked his face again and kissed him.

“I’m here, Noh-Varr,” he promised, pressing their foreheads together. “I’ll take care of you. I’m not leaving. I told you would come to my place, and you will.”

With a final kiss, he let the matter seal itself for the time being. Noh-Varr seemed alleviated enough to practically cuddle with Tommy, their bodies soaking until it was time to finally scrub themselves clean and step out. Tommy had no regrets letting the alien do most of the scrubbing, and it earned Noh-Varr a few, short-lived laughs when he struggled with getting Tommy’s thighs when the speedster kept squirming at the ticklish sensation.

They dried each other off, again Noh-Varr shouldering the bulk of that task, and again Tommy didn’t regret as he was scooped up like a bride. He might have scowled a bit, but his arms looping around the Kree’s neck betrayed his angry response. It felt good smelling Noh-Varr this way anyway.

Billy brought them clothes and food, and it was an awkward affair eating after dressing. Noh-Varr was glued to him, not wanting to part from his hip at any moment. Tommy allowed it, stroking his knee or touching his thigh as they ate, and then settled tiredly against one another on a bed.

Tommy slept, and didn’t awake until he heard another voice.

“I brought equipment.” It was Vision, and Tommy yawned widely as if he weren’t there, and flung half his body on Noh-Varr, just wanting to feel him a little longer. He hummed whenever he felt the Kree’s hands rubbing his back or stroking his hair.

“We could proceed tonight, if you’re prepared. I have a firm grasp on the nanobots and how to utilize them. The procedure is delicate, however, and may be best performed in sessions. I suppose you would like to have Tommy by your side, and I encourage that if you want. I believe his presence may help trigger what I alone cannot do with your...re-wiring, so to speak.”

Tommy bolted up to a sitting position. “You’re going to do tests on him?”

“I would be cautious during the procedure.”

“But...he’ll remember all the stuff that happened to him,” Tommy said, and he wasn’t referring to the good stuff. Was it worth it? True, Tommy ached to see the familiar gleam in Noh-Varr’s eyes, for him to recall how they had met. Yet...

Tommy had been steeling himself for this Noh-Varr to be his. It was his Noh-Varr, if modified, and if it meant he was free of the pain of love lost, of torture, experiments, then maybe Tommy would just have to suck up this one more thing for Noh-Varr’s sake.

Vision looked at Noh-Varr. “Have you changed your mind?”

The Kree indulged in a long, searching gaze that wandered over Tommy and backwards through the short time they had been together. Whilst he’d been perfectly content to amuse Tommy in any way possible, he did notice that the speedster...well he was bracing himself for something. When he thought Noh-Varr wasn’t looking, a longing glance at him, or a feeble frown, a memory of the man Noh used to be passing through the speedster and leaving behind aching wounds.

“No. I will be...myself, as I was,” for Tommy’s sake entirely, because he himself, well, he didn’t need his old memories. He was learning english through listening and mimicking, he was allowed to be close to Tommy who held enough affection for him in general to treat him with kindness and love.

“I want to remember meeting my hala.”

There was nothing else to be said. Tommy knew anything he could provide to assure the alien he didn’t have to put himself through more probing for anyone’s sake would bounce off. Tommy held his gaze, leaned close, and embraced him around the shoulders.

“Okay,” he said.

*

Vision did more than an ample job of equipping an entire room, the one he would use, with all sorts of gadgets and a couple of machines Tommy could only gape at and debate what each diagram or nob meant.

Noh-Varr was stretched onto the bed, wires from both machines snaking around his limbs and head. The image had Tommy grappling with memories, and he suddenly wondered if there would be a day he would unload the burden of his life story to Noh-Varr, just to know someone else knew it and still liked him for it.

For now, Tommy held Noh-Varr’s hand, back still throbbing but not as hard as his heart.

“You sure this is okay?”

Vision looked more eager for the machines than anything Tommy could say. “Yes. If Captain America is coming to question Noh-Varr, there’s no point doing all this after he shows up.”

“Good point.”

Tommy smiled at Noh-Varr. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him make you think you’re a dog or anything.” He sat on the bed, bringing Noh-Varr’s hand to his chest. “Even if I think you’d make a good one.”

Noh-Varr held to Tommy’s hand, offering him a reassuring, but above all trusting smile, one that spoke volumes of the naivety of this...version of the Kree. This version that had not experienced the pain of betrayal or true imprisonment, had not been tortured, beaten and used as a weapon. This one still had open honesty in his eyes, not jaded yet brutal truth tattooed into his cerulean gaze.

“You are here. I worry not.”

Tommy saw it all, the kind of Kree Noh-Varr could remain were it not for torture and agony. For a guy who believed that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, doubts fermented in his mind, ones that told him Noh-Varr deserved a better life.

“I’ll begin,” Vision said, and Tommy didn’t stop him.

Squeezing Noh-Varr’s hand, he could only bounce his sight between Noh-Varr and whatever Vision was doing. For once, Tommy kept his mouth shut, worried the slightest sound from him would drag out the process or cause Vision to fumble.

He pulled Noh-Varr’s hand to his chest, letting the Kree feel his rapid heart-rate, and sat back, never feeling so helpless.

Vision set to work on Noh-Varr without any more preamble. The Kree endured silently, though the attaching of the various machines didn’t bode well, or at least, it hadn’t since his latest experience of a Kree homecoming welcome.

And yet he kept utterly still, putting his trust not in Vision, he had no business with the android, even if he was helping him. His trust lay in Tommy and Tommy alone. He wanted to promise the human he’d be that man again, the one that remembered how they met, the one that had good reason for loving Tommy in the way he clearly deserved and felt necessary. 

Vision kept Noh-Varr in an almost coma-like state through use of some basic recoding on the nanites.

And it took hours. Not just one or two, but six. Six hours of Noh-Varr laying still and silent, six hours of Vision attached to the beeping machines which worked in their own, mysterious ways. There was no discussion, no explanation for Tommy’s sake if it was even working. The memory restoration was like trying to finish a masterful painting, or rather, restoring it. As if you had to repair a work of Da Vinci’s.

Tommy couldn't remember when he'd been so fatigued, and he hadn't been doing any of the work. Vision probed and fiddled and tapped and studied things Tommy had no foothold on, nor could bother to find one; the android would say nothing to him. 

Six hours. And Tommy, the guy who couldn't sit through a show without dashing for some water or stretching, sat for it all. Noh-Varr was not lucid, practically knocked out, and Tommy would not let go of his hand until he wasn't. 

It hurt. Tommy was restless. It was inside he felt the exhaustion and misery as though he fought for days without respite. It made his back hunch, his eyes burn, and still he anchored himself where their hands were joined. 

Six hours and Vision turned to him.   
"We wait now," was all he had to say after all that. 

"Wait?"

"I cannot force him to wake up."

Tommy got that in an instant and he was a lean bundle of raw energy now, leaning over and stroking the face he would always hold precious. 

"Hey," he whispered. Nothing. He squeezed the hand. Nothing. 

Tommy stared and then, gradually, closed the gap and let his mouth linger on the alien he didn't think could make him as terrified as he was now.   
To be entirely and brutally honest, Vision had left out the description of the process for Tommy’s sanity’s sake. The codes that needed to be augmented were deeply within the entire system Noh-Varr’s nanites operated on and in turn, his body functions were linked to and dependant on their existence and correct function. Vision had to thread apart the code without disturbing too much or else risk losing the Kree to a malfunction.

And Tommy really didn’t need to know about that, it would only serve to agitate him further.

The synthezoid watched him now, watched the desperation in his touch as he attempted to bring Noh-Varr back to consciousness with kisses, through stroking his cheeks, his jaw, his arms.

“There is a chance his system is...rebooting, as you might put it. Maybe he will establish the flow of the reconnected data before his full cognitive functions return, or he won’t. It is a complicated process. But keep speaking to him, your voice and presence have acted as positive stimulus before.”

Tommy didn’t like Noh-Varr being analogized to a computer, something that could be shut off at will, recoded, rebooted to default factory settings. For his own sake and the sake of the HQ that would otherwise be Tommy’s stress reliever, he clung to the words Vision said about interacting with Noh-Varr, as if Tommy burdened the weight of being what either pulled Noh-Varr out or left him buried.

“Noh-Varr,” he began, and inhaled deeply. Once he started, he could not find the lid to shut himself up. “It’s me. Tommy. Tom-My. I still can’t believe you call me that, but I think anything else would feel wrong. Hala is nice too, even if it’s kind of feminine.”

He squeezed the hand. “I’m here. I promised. I showed those Kree what they get for messing with you, even if they didn’t know you were the goal. I’ll always rescue you, you know. You’re worth any war. But no war would be nice. We could have that little house, two dogs, a lot of backyard, maybe another room for your space stuff. We could do whatever we wanted, no one telling us what to do.”

The possibility of such a future felt more fantasy than reality now, and that was a burden Tommy didn’t know he could throw onto the pile. He lowered his head and listened to Noh-Varr’s heartbeat.

“Please,” he said. “I’ve...never asked people for help, but this time, and I hate you for it, I can’t do it on my own, Noh-Varr. You have to help yourself too. I’m not going to leave, even if you don’t come back, but if you can, you have to try hard. I know it hurts. Those memories that make you want to punch something or break it in half, but you can punch me if it feels better. I wouldn’t care. I’ve gotten worse. Just...” He trailed off, and he hated it, and wouldn’t let Vision see his face as the burn from his eyes trickled out and collected in tiny pools on Noh-Varr’s chest.

Noh-Varr was lost in his own mind, fighting with the weight and burden of his memories being restored. He relived every moment of his life, it played out in front of him on the stage of his own mind, much like a tragic mockery of the theater Tommy had once been fond of taking him to. 

And Noh-Varr seethed with rage. His life aboard the Marvel, his love for Merree, his pain at her death and the destruction of everything he clamored to be, the incineration of his dreams as he was enslaved to the humans, kept like a monster, under lock and key. And scalpel and needle.

He hated them. He hated humans, so deeply he could feel every fibre in his being screaming for revenge, for dominion over the Earth, to push this mangled, perverted race of human scum into their place beneath them. Lead them into the light and watch the unworthy burn.

Pain dominated every memory, drowned each scene his head finally had access to again. How could he forget all the hardship he’d endured? How could he be burdened with such great hatred and want it back after being rid of it once?

Noh continued to watch his life play out and the anger was joined by question. If he hated humans so much, how could he take one to be his lover?

And then, he learned.

*  
Ten minutes had passed since Tommy’s plea and promise for the future, and Noh opened his eyes at last, gave a heavy gasp as if he’d been holding his breath.

The gasp yanked one out of Tommy, sending him sitting upright and scanning for a bad omen. Vision had told him that the Kree would relive his life, remember the agony and his fury, and there was a possibility that his memories that came later, of Tommy, may be hindered by the rage. Somehow Tommy didn’t believe that even if Noh-Varr did, the alien couldn’t, wouldn’t, bring himself to harm the speedster.

So Tommy was up in Noh-Varr’s face, patting it, stroking his mouth and nose and cheeks.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, “it’s okay. Safe. You’re safe. I swear. You’re here. With me. Tommy. Do you...it’s me. Do you know me?”

“Get out of my face,” Noh-Varr growled, eyes clearing, face hardening, features drawing into an aggressive defense, marring the very memory of the...kind Kree he’d been before this. He pulled himself to sit up, plucking and ripping the wires from his arms, his shoulders bunching, muscles flexing and obeying a suddenly much more violent mind.

“Get this shit off of me,” more growling, more threat in his pose, but he locked his gaze with Tommy’s, a hard, long contest of wills.

“Tom-My...you have a lot to answer for.”

Tommy saw the way Vision watched them, telling the speedster through silent gaze to be cautious, and Tommy hadn’t been, and now wrestled with the cocktail of emotions that had the room seem to turn itself on his head.

Noh-Varr yanked and shoved wires off him like some kind of animal, gaze piercing Tommy and his voice swelling the stone inside of him, warning him that he was going into overload soon and the result would be messy and best avoided.

Yet Tommy could merely stare at the eyes that had held emotions on opposite ends of the spectrum. This time though, hard, threatening, and Tommy had to bolt up and back up two steps, eyes darting to the open doorway as a precaution.

“I don’t understand,” he said, forcing his voice calm. “What’s wrong, Noh-Varr? It’s me. It’s Tommy.”

“I know,” there was no dip in the aggression of his voice as the Kree hauled himself off of the table, finding his feet slightly unsteady but that did nothing to quell his anger.

“You...you were supposed to be my lover, my home. How could you do all of this?” he swept his arm through the room, glared at Vision, then returned the gaze to Tommy.

“You put yourself in jeopardy, your entire team in jeopardy! I went to protect you, did you not understand that?” he was angry beyond belief, Tommy could have gotten himself killed, the immense idiot.

“I went to Hala for a purpose, Tom-My. It was to protect you. And to fix me. I was to be the subject of research...and released to my own purposes later.”

Maybe it was the pack on Tommy’s back that couldn’t bother with anymore, having no respite to unload in what seemed like years though it had been a mere weeks. Or maybe it was that someone was up in his face, aggression fueling and voice burning with threat that had the speedster puff out his own chest, challenging it all. Maybe it was both and then some.

Tommy knew it had been selfish to put his team on the line, would always know that, but he never forced them, and he had done what he thought was right.

“Fuck you!” The spat had his arms vibrating, yet still there was anger and woe and heartache left swimming inside him. He knew Billy could hear his shouting already, and Vision was backing toward the door. 

“I came for you! I promised you. I wouldn’t let you...I wouldn’t given a thought to coming for you. I wasn’t going to let them study you! I don’t fucking care what it was for, or if you would have been released. I wasn’t going to let them change their minds about letting you go and seeing you had so much more to offer.”

Even his voice quaked now, and Tommy wasn’t just talking about Noh-Varr, but didn’t stop in his own verbal rampage. “You were worth fighting for and you always will be and I wasn’t,” he stumbled on a hiccup, “I wasn’t going to let anyone touch you that way again, use you for whatever purpose they want, and leave you angrier or violated, used up and tossed out when they finally had their fun with you.

“So don’t glare at me that way because I’m not a fucking child and I can take care of myself, and if that means going on a goddamn foreign planet and crashing into another to get the only person that’s ever given me a look that wasn’t pity or annoyance, then Fuck. You.”

“You are a fucking child, Tom-My,” Noh-Varr took the verbal onslaught and relished in it, let it appease his own anger even though he knew his rage didn’t stem from Tommy, he knew it was the product of seeing the mess that was his life play out in front of him in its entirety.

“You are capable of taking care of yourself but that gives you no right to decide over my life’s choices, even if you are the most stubborn, idiotic, beautiful human I have ever met!”

And beneath the heat of anger bloomed something else, white-hot, it scolded and blinded him, overran his nervous system enough to make him choke for half a second, before he looked down at his hands, then at Tommy again, with more surprise than should be possible in his gaze.

“And I love you. I love you so much I am furious you would do something so reckless. I love you Tom-My Shepherd.”

Tommy lengthened to his full height, which didn’t amount to much when a Kree towered over you. His eyes burned again and he sniffed hard, stubbornly, letting all the words hit him and leaving him to grapple with their meaning.

“I didn’t choose for you. I made the choice for me. I made a promise and,” he exhaled shakily, his voice loud yet not quite booming as before, “I had a shit life, Noh-Varr, and the Young Avengers have reminded me it can still be good. But it wasn’t going to be great. Then you showed up and, well.” He should say it, the word at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t even bring himself to approach Noh-Varr without the urge to punch him gone.

“I had a taste of a great life,” he went on, fists clenching hard. “You left and it wasn’t going to be great, and I didn’t want that anymore. I’m not,” he opened his mouth wider, closed it, thought hard, “I’m not that strong.”

Tommy looked down at the floor. Who would have thought someone you cared for admitting their love only made him feel that much more feeble, more useless, too open and raw.

He was either going to punch through the wall, rip Vision apart or lock Tommy into an embrace he wouldn’t have to leave for the rest of his existence. Luckily for the android and the HQ, he chose the latter option, squeezing at Tommy as much as he could as his nose buried in snowy hair and inhaled, gulped the speedster’s scent with unmatched greed.

“Like I said. The most stubborn idiot I have met...my only option is not to leave your side again, isn’t it?”

the tone dropped all rage, quelled for now and ruptured by Tommy’s apparent weakness. Noh-Varr had all the time in the world to yell at him later.

“I apologize, my anger was unjust towards you.”

Tommy seized him the moment their bodies locked into one another. A sound escaped him, a strained, shaky sound someone might have called a sob trying to work its way out. Not for Tommy though.

“You’re the fucking idiot,” Tommy said into his shoulder, pulling him impossibly closer and squeezing what life he could with his leaner arms. “I wouldn’t let them do that to you. Not again. You’re not an experiment. You’re my hala.”

It was easier now that he was hiding in Noh-Varr’s arms, and hiding he was, from the world, from his own expression, from the Kree’s stare, from his own emotions.

“This love thing freaks me out,” he said. “But it’s not going away so...just stay.”

“I will,” Noh-Varr allowed Tommy to forget the world, to hide in his arms and believe that nothing existed outside of the two of them, nothing could swoop in and pry them apart again. Even if the Kree came back for him, this time, he would not leave.

No one in this universe needed him more than his hala. Because even if he hadn’t found a world he was still sure he wanted to protect, he did have a home. And gave one in turn.

“Until we have that house, you will have to make do with me being your hala.” he muttered into snowy hair, pressing the softest of kisses to Tommy’s ear.

And that suited Tommy fine, for now.

*

It was nice as it was awkward once their rage had diluted to its simplest form: love. That one word had pushed Tommy to boundaries he may have resisted under his team’s scolding, and had just as easily had him crumbling in the Kree’s arm when they were finally back, accounted for, and could breathe.

Vision was gentle, but had to run a final diagnostics, just to ensure all was well enough. At least it was swift, and then Tommy dragged his Kree to the room, shooting Billy a look when the mage scurried over to investigate. Billy merely smiled in understanding and muttered something about making more dinner in case Cap showed up sooner than later.

Then, it was just them in the bedroom again, stretched on the mattress, hands together, doing nothing but recuperate their breath and senses.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Tommy said after a while. “I mean, with me. I’m stubborn. I’m not the type to tell all. It’s like we’re going to have to date. Sounds dumb, but...I think dates would be kind of cool with you. I’ve been on them. Usually they’re boring, but we could have a burger, and then just do whatever we want. I need to show you around anyway.”

There was something to be said to wake up from a coma-like state after having to suffer through a play-by-play showing of your own life and shortcomings, then finding yourself in the arms of the center of your universe, falling into a bed and reaffirming a love that had suffered too many blows to be healthy, but refused to give in.

Tommy held his hand, his head pillowed against Noh-Varr’s, leg just brushing his thigh. They lay in their tangled, sweaty sheets and did not care to move. Their vigorous reunion had worn both of them out, the emotions balled up so tightly for Tommy and in such a short volley for Noh having finally found some outlet.

“Dating? If you tell me what that is, I might do it with you. I conclude food...and an activity before returning to bed, yes?”

There were plenty of things he wanted to do and okay, he’d learned a lot from all those dumb TV shows, but that didn’t make them less interesting.

“Something like that,” Tommy chuckled. “But first, I know Cap is going to want to talk to you. He’s...okay though. I think he’ll be willing to let you prove your worth here, not blowing things up or anything like that.”

After a kiss to a bare thigh, Tommy propped up onto his elbow. “Then we can do what normal couples do. Some of it. I don’t want to be ordinary like them. Some downtime is good though. When you think about it, we don’t really know a lot about each other.”

He laughed. “Well, we know some of the tragic, dark secrets most couples don’t share until way later, but we haven’t even talked about the normal stuff that usually goes down.” Then, he laughed again at the flummoxed face Noh-Varr meant.

“Okay, listen,” he said, crawling up his body. “I’m saying it’s not easy being around me. It might even be annoying. Baby steps. I’m not much for big planning so we’ll just go with the flow, that make sense?”

“Yes...though I would say less flow that we’ve had though, I’d like to have some time to actually know you...without disasters looming over our heads.”

Noh-Varr settled his arms around Tommy, hauling the light body up to where he could stare into Tommy’s mesmerizing green eyes. 

“I trust you with my life, it’s about time I knew about yours.”

That earned the Kree a frown, and Tommy looked down at his chest rather than hold onto the gaze. With a sigh he rolled off, tucking himself into Noh-Varr’s side and dragging his nails lightly over the alien’s stomach.

“I’m not sure you’d like what there is to be found, Noh-Varr.”

“It’s too late for warnings, Tom-My,” Noh found the perfect resting spot for his head on Tommy’s, breath hitching ever so slightly as his body gave a pleasant tingle under the scratch. His skin would only be red for a moment, but it was enough to fuel the ever-lasting heat beneath.

“Whatever your past holds won’t change how I feel about you now. Or the fact that I feel at all, which is an achievement only you have managed to coax from me.”

“Melted the heart of a Kree soldier,” Tommy hummed, ignoring the bit about his past, “romantic, aren’t you?”

A knock, hesitant at first then firm after the first one, interrupted further discussions of romance and tragic pasts.

“It’s me,” Billy said. “Cap said he wants to see you both in half an hour. Er...if that’s enough time.”

Tommy blushed, knew he blushed, and hated it. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be there.”

“Um. Okay. Good. I’ll have something to eat for Noh-Varr when you get out.”

“What about me?”

“You can make your own food for worrying us like that.”

Noh chuckled slightly at the outrage on Tommy’s face for his brother’s audacity. Of course there’d be some repercussions from the team, Tommy did drag them across the galaxy on a wild chase for his lover. Which, though a crazy endeavour, had ended rather positively.

The idea of facing Captain America, a well-known public figure, did shoot tension into his body though. He had nothing to defend himself with, no right to claim life on this planet for himself apart from the burning desire to be close to Tommy, to date him, please him and share his life.

“I do not know what to tell this Captain. I haven’t exactly done myself proud on Earth.”

Tommy peeled away, stretching and deciding a shower was in order first.

“Don’t worry. I’m full of plans.”

*

Captain America was less than pleased. It was expected, and Tommy, for once, hid his recalcitrance as the admonishment washed over him, one after another, and his team just stood there behind him like obedient school children.

Until Billy spoke up. “Cap, I think he gets it. It’s not just his fault too,” he glanced at his twin. “We agreed to go along. We didn’t think it was right for Noh-Varr to be taken when he had found something here.”

Of course there was the matter of Noh-Varr’s intent to remodel the entire world.

“But,” Tommy jumped in, “let him be my ward. My responsibility. I’ll vouch for him.”

“We all will,” Teddy said suddenly, enough so that Tommy tossed him an incredulous look.

“Yes,” Kate said, waving at Noh-Varr, who, despite being the center of attention, remained still and quiet. “We have seen him change. He’s head over heels for Tommy and I think the two of them will actually make some good come out for the world.”

Tommy reminded himself to pay her back, not all in considerate ways, for airing the laundry that way. He glowered at Cap’s blink.

“That a problem?” he said.

Captain America began to smile, a bit of that ‘sheesh what am I going to do with these kids’ kind of smile, and shook his head. “I suspected as much.”

Of course. Tommy stifled down a retort when Teddy’s hand rested on his shoulder.

“And what say you, Noh-Varr?” Captain America faced the Kree fully. “About all of this, about what you want the future to hold for you.”

Noh-Varr had been watching the man with clear suspicion and distrust. Anyone clad in the colours of this so-called country had to be a pretentious fool, but so far, the man seemed fairly responsible and reasonably grounded. The Kree didn’t like him one bit. 

Tommy threw himself into his defence and it more than warmed his chest, his glare lessening and turning into a soft appraising glance for his lover. No matter if anyone told him how young Tommy really was, Noh-Varr saw a great man in the making, one who had the potential to be greater than any of the humans he’d met so far.

“I will not lie about the fact I have little regard for your race. You have done nothing to appeal to my rationality, in fact, you’ve done everything to make me know how unreceptive you are to higher forms of life.”

His words didn’t exactly resonate a real change, but he continued.

“Humanity’s one redeeming quality is the ability to change. To adapt. To learn and evolve. Tom-My is mine, and I am his. He is what I treasure in this life and this world is his home, so I will promise my steadfast loyalty to Earth, because it has given me the greatest gift.”

It wasn’t the most romantic gesture for an Avenger seeking Noh-Varr’s change of heart. Then again, Captain America held honesty high above false proclamations, and he did not doubt the Kree’s words.

“Yes,” he agreed. “There is much flawed in our world, Noh-Varr, but, we hope, with the aid of both superheroes and non-superheroes alike, we can show even the most pessimistic of our kind that there is good and hope in this world. I see you’ve found that in Speed.”

Cap regarded Tommy, who unconsciously stood to better attention, eyes still sharp, heart swelling with Noh-Varr’s words.

“I suppose you better not break his heart,” Cap said, smiling around his joke.

And Tommy knew that was enough, and rushed to Noh-Varr, grabbing his hand.

“If I do, it’s because I died first,” Tommy said.

“Which I will not permit,” Noh-Varr augmented, not satisfied with just the hand, arm folding Tommy closer to him than strictly necessary. It excited him to be able to demonstrate his affection so openly, that it was total commonplace for someone to show how vulnerable another being made them.

“So I am permitted to set up residency on Earth?”

Was he going to get some form of work assignment? A card? Anything to live on besides Tommy’s charity? Not that he cared, he would live under the open sky and hunt for food if he had to, but if he had no purpose other than to make Tommy happy, it would seem a little odd this patriotically clad man interrogated him.

“I would say so,” Captain America answered, smile still on his face. “However, I think it would be wise that within three months, you find a trade, whether an occupation, or we could supply you with a type of job. Nothing much, just to keep you busy. Three months first to get you settled and allow Speed to get you acquainted better with our customs.”

Tommy wrinkled his nose, not sure he liked the prospect of Noh-Varr doing any work for them. The arm at his waist settled him down, and his team noted that furtively.

“Is that fair enough?” Captain America asked the Kree.

“I suppose it is,” Noh-Varr wondered what kind of work the Captain expected him to, he was certainly not going to be serving beverages or food to humans if that was the direction he expected.

“But I will not impair your natural evolution. And I will not endanger the Kree empire and give you information.”

Captain America nodded, and Tommy could breathe.

*

Relief, happy, pleased, and other words of the same relation kept Tommy wide awake rather than needing to crash and hibernate for a few weeks as he normally would have. There was no time now that Noh-Varr was officially allowed on Earth, provided he stick to the agreements, and Tommy wouldn’t waste a second on relaxing. Not yet, anyway.

First thing was getting the hell out of HQ. That was no place for a ‘home’ for an alien needing to learn about Earth culture and submerge himself in what humans do. They certainly didn’t live in a headquarters constructed for superheroes.

Good ol’ Kate hooked Tommy up with a building she had connections to on the rope vine, one that housed an apartment with a view even Tommy admitted was stealing his breath. It was within budget and Tommy signed off with a grin. 

Well, he didn’t sign off, being shy of the year allowed for him to do it. Captain America arranged some things with some persuasion from the entire YA team, and, the truncated version had Tommy tucking the last chair under a table; Kate wouldn’t allow him to have a place with no furniture, and even BIlly had magic’d it up a bit as his ‘housewarming’ gift.

“I can’t believe I have my own place!” Tommy rushed to a box, unloading what few possessions he had to adorn the place or be shelved in the single room.

He zipped back in time to see the sun cresting over the skyscrapers, turning the sky shades of pinks and purples and oranges.

“So,” he said after sighing at the view. He faced Noh-Varr. “We did enough unpacking, not that we had much. Since we gotta go grocery shopping later, and I’ll teach you all about it, how about we try one of those date things tonight?”

He smiled wider, taking in Noh-Varr’s demeanor. The poor Kree was more of a shadow during the last few days, trailing behind Tommy, observing, studying, helping out, not quite certain what to do other than swoop Tommy up in a sudden hug between the overstuffed schedule that came from moving into a new place and the general settling in with what was now his alien-boyfriend-roommate. 

He’d been a very observant shadow, at least. And though he didn’t learn much about humans other than they cursed a lot when things didn’t go right and appreciated a nice kitchen decor enough to give pleased moans when stroking over smooth surfaces, amongst a few other habits that he suspected were very specific to Tommy rather than the species as a whole.

“A date would be great, you can show me the parameters I need to apply in order to have a successful one,” Noh-Varr had grown incredibly fond of drowning Tommy in hugs though, now that they had time to be together, it seemed paramount he should be touching Tommy at all times. And if he wasn’t, he had to make up for it with endless hugs.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “You don’t show someone the parameters of what makes a good date. A good date usually just happens. Chemistry between the two people is important, but I’m pretty sure we got that down.”

Chemistry had not only sparked between them, but had shot them both into the bed for plenty of bed wrestling. Playing a few of those moments in his mind, Tommy kept his head down as he considered his outfit. A flash and he was hugged by new clothing that didn’t look like he belonged on the street begging for coins.

Jeans, button down. God, he really didn’t really like button downs but Kate always said he looked decent in them, and made for delightful foreplay if the mood struck properly.

Satisfied, and with a proper grip on his fantasies, Tommy looked up. “Come on then. You can’t go looking like that. This a date and we’re going to a nice restaurant. I’m not one for those snotty places, but this place is amazing.” He punctuated the comment with a hand gesture, kissing his fingertips. “Best seafood in the whole damn country, I swear it. Whyareyoustillstandingtheregetready!”

Noh-Varr suppressed a laugh, Tommy’s impatience was in actuality adorable, even if it was getting harder to distinguish actual syllables when he raced over words and sentences with the same speed he usually dedicated to eating.

“And what will you have me wear? You do remember I have ‘no fashion’ sense as Kate Bishop put it.”

Tommy was a bundle of zeal as he shoved Noh-Varr to their room, and it really was ‘theirs’ now. 

“Strip,” he ordered, smirking when Noh-Varr watched him a moment, as if expecting Tommy to meanwhile occupy himself with selecting from what little clothing Noh-Varr had.

“I plan to enjoy the show before I get to business.” Tommy crossed his arms, and did indeed let his eyes soak up the delight of Noh-Varr down to briefs. “Okay, well, we can’t let you go out like that despite how much I would like.”

It should have been a quick feat, yanking limbs into shirts and pants, but there was a delay when Tommy burst into laughter at being seized in a hug after a smartass comment, and he might have indulged in kisses and a brief session against the wall. 

When he finally got Noh-Varr into jeans, boots, shirt, and nice blazer, Tommy had to say he was proud. Not one keen on fashion, he had to say Noh-Varr looked...dashing in it. Many women, and some men, would swoon tonight. Good.

Tommy and Noh-Varr finally left the apartment and walked to the restaurant, which was a good ways down toward the sea. What better way than to immerse an alien than by having him navigate around humans, absorb the sights at a leisure pace now that they weren’t hunted, and have Tommy point out various well known establishments, or supplied commentary on the people or taxis.

By the time they were at the restaurant, the sun was all but set, though that didn’t strip the view they were provided at a lavish booth, the wall a set of windows that overlooked the harbor and distant buildings twinkling with man-made stars. Not quite like the dotted skies that were difficult to see from the city, but Tommy didn’t mind.

Tommy ordered for them, knowing just what Noh-Varr had to try, and he was near bouncing as they received their drinks, lemonade for Noh-Varr, water for himself.

“I feel like the other shoe never dropped,” Tommy said once they waiter left them to themselves and the view. “Crazy how, well, crazy the last week was. Now we’re on a date.”

The word was enough to have Tommy fidget more than typical. He’d been on dates, and none had him feeling so...what was it? Shy? Anxious? Something. Whatever it was, it did a great job of keeping his face warm.

He stirred his drink with the straw. “So, erm, this is one of thousands of restaurants. At night, especially on the weekends, a lot of couples go on dates. They talk about their families, hopes, dreams, all that boring stuff. But you know, as much as a leader I am, I wonder if there’s anything in particular you’ve been wanting to do or see or know about.”

“I see. This is a peculiar process in which you both implement yourself into a foreign surrounding of comfort in order to minimise one person’s domination over the atmosphere,” Noh-Varr sucked up some lemonade, giving a pleased groan when he found the sweet liquid to his liking. Though he did get some looks for being so happy about a ‘child’ drink. Not that it bothered the Kree. 

Actually, he’d gotten a lot of look during the process of getting here. At first, he thought the excitement and perhaps disarray from sharing a lengthy moment with Tommy against the wall was cause for this, but the speedster had assured him it was not so. People were looking at him because he carried what he wore and how he looked extremely well.  
It was sort of flattering, if Noh put any value into human attention, which he did not.

The only human who’s opinion mattered to him at all was sitting across from him, stirring ice around his water and drawing his eye rather than the captivating view.

“I guess everything is not an option. Perhaps you could tell me...about your previous relationships. It is a topic I can actually form some conclusions from, something I understand.”

Noh-Varr had been receiving looks, still was, and Tommy was torn between smirking and hissing at them. He decided on the former when Noh-Varr never once strayed from his overall attention. Noh-Varr could easily have anyone he wanted, and yet his devotion was set in the way he looked at Tommy.

The question about past relationships reminded Tommy of the thorn in his heart, one that had been there so long he’d gotten use to it. Noh-Varr’s presence was working its way around it, slowly pulling it out, until that question drove it deep back in.

Tommy blew out a puff of air, the strands of his hair that fell forward catching and riding it. He kept the sarcasm shield up. “Past relationships, huh? Oh, well, nothing really.” He stabbed at his ice harder, the lie bitter in his mouth. 

Seemed lying to Noh-Varr wasn’t as easy as it was with everyone else.

“That is not strictly true, is it, Tom-My?” Noh-Varr had never been told that humans had particular ways of behaving when they wished to evade a certain line of dialogue, a certain progression conversation.

Tommy looked irritated almost, but it was feeble, a front to hide truths and facts he didn’t want Noh-Varr to see. But that was the point of this ‘date’ function, was it not? To create a basis of comfort and trust, and to explore into the depths of each other’s history and person.

“No,” Tommy said in instant reply, watching the cube clink against one another. He would have said that it was all in the past, equivalent to last year’s garbage and there was no healthy reason for rummaging around in it. At least, that was the plan until Tommy flicked his eyes and saw the way Noh-Varr stared at him, open, honest, ready to stay at his side (love him?) despite what was said.

“I don’t have, erm,” Tommy shrugged to compensate for his lack of articulation, “good stories to tell so don’t expect much okay?” He jabbed his wet straw in Noh-Varr’s direction. “I could just give you the whole psychiatrists’ reports. Had a mother who was not all that affectionate. Don’t blame her though. She had to work two jobs because my dad was an asshole. Well, that’s what she told me. He left before I could remember much about him.”

He waved that off. “Let’s just say she wasn’t fond of a freak for a kid when she found out. Thought she could beat it out of me. I never bothered running when she slapped me around. I caused her a lot of problems anyway. Wasn’t doing well in school, too many run-ins with the cops. Got in with the wrong crowd.”

The thorn twisted itself a bit deeper. “Um...yeah. I’ve...been with a few people. Only one girl I was semi-serious about, meaning we hung out more than others and we fooled around a little. The rest were flings, most just flirting kind of stuff.” He stopped stirring the ice. “There was one guy. Older. I was stupid and worshipped the guy, though I acted like I was hot stuff. He didn’t care I was a mutant. He had a motorcycle and I’d run alongside it. It was fun.”

Tommy didn’t realize the load of this bulk of the burden until he began talking about it. Slouching a bit, he never remembered feeling so heavy thinking about it. Well, that was thinking. Not telling.

“I liked him. That way. I thought he was only into girls but one night we were all partying up after I got out of juvie, my first time there for a few months, and he was suddenly all over me, kissing me. I was kind of drunk, but I was for it. After that, we...I thought we were together. We had meet ups, but it wasn’t like before. It ended up being just me,” he broke off and shoved his drink away. “Anyway, we never had full blown sex but...we did stuff. I did stuff I guess for him. He always left after, not like when we use to hang out and just, you know, hang out and have a good time.

“So, as all drama stories end, I go up to meet the group one day, really excited to see him most of all, and he has the cold shoulder. Long story into slightly-less-than-long story, he outed me to everyone as a mutant and a fag, even though I had been with some of the girls in our group.”

There was more, but Tommy bit hard on his tongue and stared at the woodwork on their table, weary from that tale alone. “And that’s that.”

Noh-Varr wasn’t particularly empathetic, that wasn’t something he could just develop for others’ sake, but he was capable of observing Tommy, concentrating on his behaviour and analyzing what was character specific to his lover.

And he could define when something was comfortable for the speedster to speak about. This right here? It wasn’t something Tommy would tell anyone else. This was a flaw, a weakness, a mistake of his past he was aware of and had definitely not come to terms with.

“And you were mistreated, socially stigmatized based on your alleged homosexuality and mutation? Humans are very primal...Tom-My...you understand I may have different concepts of relationships than you do, right?”

“No shit,” Tommy said under his breath, running a hand through his hair.

Anger surged through his hands, tempting him to break something, and through his feet, urging him to go on a week long run. Anger that was directed at himself for still allowing his heart to clench at were memories, stupid mistakes that all teenagers made at some point. Heartache wasn’t a sob story just for Tommy.

“Enlighten me then about your different concept,” Tommy said, lifting his eyes, but meeting Noh-Varr’s neck instead of his eyes.

He didn’t like the way Tommy couldn’t meet his gaze. Noh-Varr dipped his line of vision, but he couldn’t captivate the speedster’s eyes.

“Well, it is not an insubstantial matter to me. It’s not something you can explore as freely as you humans seem to, given this concept of dating. It is a much more...permanent arrangement. There is a period of adjustment, in which you moderate and deliberate whether or not the two partners are compatible and willing to eventually reproduce with one another. The feeling...is less important. It’s a logical process, you choose someone you are suited to, someone to share your interests and your field of work, because once you make the commitment, once someone becomes your hala...there is no alternative. We are rarely able to cancel any relationship...because once you are in it, you are both committed. This relationship is a perfect bond that must produce the best aspects from both partners. So it is difficult for me to imagine such a poor treatment of your trust and willingness to commit to...something.”

Tommy laughed. What else was there to do, even if the information suited the Kree spot on? He scrubbed his face, not bothering to soften the tone of the laugh, earning them a few glances that lingered longer than necessary on the poor sod stuck with Tommy as company.

“Man,” he said. “Not at all like that. It’s not about logic, though having a good head on your shoulders would normally prevent being as stupid as I was. Sometimes you don’t know you’re being strung along though until it’s too late. Humans are all about the heart deep down, the passion, and I don’t mean just sex. Anything so stiff as your concept would drive us crazy. It feels like we’re all supposed to fit in this spot or that spot and be happy and all the same. Dull.”

Tommy finally met Noh-Varr’s eyes, still twinkling with mirth. “And here you are, on a date, a Kree and his fucked up boyfriend.”

He reached out, finding Noh-Varr’s hand. It was his way to assuage any suspicions that Tommy was purposely mocking him or genuine in his teasing. He gave a squeeze.

“Some people are like that, Noh-Varr. Everyone has been that way to me. I’m used to it. He just thought I was an easy, naive boy, which I was, to get to suck him off and do things I wish I hadn’t. Things that made me feel used but I still went because, well, it was still attention. I didn’t care if it was abusive, good, bad. So I was an enabler and deserved all the stuff he did to me.”

“I’m a fucked up Kree by now,” Noh-Varr argued, but didn’t press his point and let Tommy continue to explain his behaviour. Not that it was all that much clearer to him why exactly Tommy’s naivety was a just cause for him to be extorted...

“See, here lies a problem for me, to understand fully. You have to know I come from a dimension of galactic peace. Enforced peace, true, but it is the thing that works. You would call it a zen fascistic social structure, but my people...unlike the Kree here, they have reached the pinnacle of evolution and ultimate peace is not a dream or goal, it is every day reality. And yet...I see our flaws so clearly, how much the potential for persona development is stagnant.

And here? You are all so very, very different. Chaotic, destructive, abusive of one another, a vicious pile of animals still coiling and fighting for dominance through decimating others. And this struggle carries down to an interpersonal struggle even of individuals...you have to understand, for me, it is hard to accept that you could see yourself as guilty, as deserving of punishment for a flaw that isn’t one.”

That had been quite the rant, and Tommy sat back and blinked and processed it all, and felt his heart relax at Noh-Varr’s words.

“Being human means chaos as much as it means striving for peace. As long as we exist, there will never be a utopia of any kind,” Tommy crossed his arms and slouched back, “and even if I’m striving to get that peace, just in the city, it’s not going to stop crime or wars. But that doesn’t make working for it any less important. And,” he shrugged, looking away again, “I wouldn’t blame anyone in my position for what happened to them. It’s hard to have a good head when no one taught you right, but then again I’m just a hypocrite.”

Shaking his head, he looked back at Noh-Varr. “People love drama, Noh-Varr, and sometimes mistake abuse as a kind of affection. Humans, if you go down to the essence of it, are just lonely creatures who want attention, hurtful or not, and are always terrified. Wars, stupid fights, all of it comes from fear. That much I know.”

“Humans are terrified of each other,” Noh-Varr augmented, now Tommy had really struck something he might be able to spend several days discussing none stop. He wondered if this was really the type of conversation ‘dates’ strove for.

“That is why you have war, currency, arms’ races. Your technological progress, limited as it may be, and your physiological evolution, the mutations, far outrank the state of your society. In a world where you still fear other, influence, change and control so much, you will never reach any kind of equilibrium from which real progress for mankind can stem. Your chaos is terrifying to me, despite it’s creative potential. Humans are still too primal to truly understand the tools they have at their disposal.”

Tommy shot forward, yanking Noh-Varr by the collar, eyes wild, and kissed him hard. Not long enough for their mouths to open and tongues to clash, but enough to lure the attention of other patrons once more. It was over before most could realize their eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

“And yet you’re head over heels for one of them,” Tommy said, smirking. 

So it might not have been a typical date in the sense of conversations. Tommy didn’t mind, instead relished in Noh-Varr’s intelligence. 

“And soon,” he said, planting a quick kiss before letting the Kree drop back to his seat, “you’ll see just how good we are too, despite not ever obtaining peace.”

“I look forward to your conviction, Tom-My,” Noh-Varr let his tongue pass his lips, scouring them for the lingering taste of his lover, who seemed surprisingly attracted to a simple show of understanding and intelligence. He wondered how many people would be equally unexpectant of Tommy, would underestimate him and his comprehension of the way humans and their world functioned.

“Head over heels is an oddly fitting description. I assume the head is one’s logic, that is overtaken by the practical application and force, the heels, in the incorrect order?”

“No, it just means your head is so bloated with thoughts of the person that you get top heavy and you go ‘over your heels’,” Tommy laughed, then shrugged. “How the hell should I know exactly. Shut up and eat. Food’s here.”

He grinned, and never had such a pleasant taste from the food. Noh-Varr’s mouth on his must have enhanced it.

It didn’t really matter to Noh what the food tasted like. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy his new life on Earth, if Tommy had anything to say about it.  
And he did. Plenty.


	7. Chapter 7

Life spared Tommy the trouble he was accustomed to dodging the following weeks.

Life for Tommy was Noh-Varr, immersing him into human culture, lazing with him, going on races through the city, and the domestic bits. Grocery shopping became a favorite pastime for Tommy, not quite able to get his fill of Noh-Varr frowning at the cucumbers and the plastic bags one would carry them in, as if unsure which is the one people were meant to eat.

There was always something new there, and it provided Tommy with the excuse of devouring cookbooks, metaphorically (more literally for Noh-Varr), and teaching the Kree the basics of cooking. Then Noh-Varr could eat the eggshells or the wrapper afterward.

Among that was feeding Noh-Varr’s curiosity. Tommy got them library cards and Kate offered free texts collecting dust from her place. They had to put in three bookshelves to cradle all the knowledge Noh-Varr would soak in when Tommy wasn’t around. For all the enjoyment Tommy got pressed against Noh-Varr, watching a crummy show with him, he still needed his own space and time, and keeping the Kree occupied was a priority.

Cap also supplied some help in that aspect; having suspected the Kree wouldn’t take kindly to being surrounded by more super-humans and having picked up on all the books being hoarded to Tommy’s place, he put in a few words and got Noh-Varr a position to help at the local library, a massive expanse of a building, should he ever need it.

So, yes, life was being kind to Tommy.

That wasn’t to say they didn’t have their moments .He and Noh-Varr had their share of arguments, their headstrong selves clashing heads, only to have it throw themselves onto each other and stretch on the couch as though all was well again. There was also the team’s hesitance at having an alien court their little rebel, but Tommy was satisfied no one voiced their opinions. 

After all, Noh-Varr had yet to blow up anything, seemingly devoted to his hala.

Then there was the issue of Tommy. After the allotted time to settle into his new schedule and tending to an alien for a boyfriend, the speedster had the bad end of a ramble from Billy, who elevated past points about what the hell Tommy was going to do with his life that wasn’t waiting for the next baddie to swoop in and wreak chaos.

So, more arguments and head butting aside, college manifested before Tommy as an edifice of potential woe and memories he rather not admit belonged to him. His grades from high school weren’t that bright, barely meeting the minimum for the college, but a little boost from some recommendations and Tommy was soon learning, in more ways than one.

It was his first day of class, on time for the semester to start, and he was more than relieved that it was not like high school at all, suffocating under the thrum of a teacher’s voice, the hand of the clock his only leverage on the world existing beyond these walls.

His class was far more engaging, buzzing with activity, and Tommy found himself participating in it all. It didn’t hurt that he selected to major in Criminology/Law/Society. Having been on the other end of the bars and seen the system fail plenty of his friends and spit them out into worse criminals than when they went in, why not work from the inside out to get a leg up on that? A little courtesy to Mrs. Kaplan, who still kept in touch with him, was in order for that.

Even when he left class, the vibrations of campus swarmed around him, filling the halls and pathways (there was far more open space). Another time he might consider doing runs around the place, but until then, he was already done for the day.

Life was too good, in fact, and Murphy’s Law had to remind Tommy of that.

“Tommy?”

It had been years since Tommy heard that voice, a lifetime ago. Yet it stopped him in midstride and he had to recheck his heart. No, it was the same voice and it directly targeted him. His heart pumped faster.

Jaw clenched, Tommy told himself to hold his head up high and stroll on ahead to the good life.

He turned on his heels. There he was.

Anthony and time had had little of an affair. The guy barely looked older than Tommy recalled, and that was pretty damn perfectly. He was a bit wider, as if he’d been working out more at a gym instead of what pretty face tired him out in bed.

Of course he had to look good still. Life wouldn’t be cruel were it any other way, and Tommy noted with chagrin his smile, while still charming, lacked the arrogance Tommy was eager to punch one day if he ever had the chance.

“Anthony,” he said, not as stiffly as he had also planned.

“Look at you.” Anthony laughed, closed the gap in three strides of his long legs and a quick sidestep prevented him from embracing Tommy. He glanced over and held up his hands. “Oh, sorry. I...deserved that.”

Tommy wanted to stomp his foot on his face, but the urge waned with each word Anthony spoke. “You deserved a lot more than that.”

“I know. I treated you like shit. I really regret it.”

That’s now how it was supposed to go. He was still supposed to be an ass, a douchebag that Tommy would have no qualms throttling a little before dumping his unconscious body in a grimy alley.

“It’s really good to see you,” Anthony said, eyes jumping from head to toe. “You look the same.”

“So do you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I attend here.” Short, quick responses. Just like that.

“Really? Man, I heard you were in the big house last time.”

Tommy steeled himself, clutching his backpack strap harder. “I was.”

“Jesus.” Anthony battled with a few emotions, most of which Tommy could name by analyzing his body language and expression in two winks. Sucked that all of them were not giving Tommy a reason to go ahead with that stomping idea.

“Look, ah, I got to get to class but here.”

Tommy’s heart jumped when Anthony grabbed his arm firmly, a pen in his hand and number being scrawled on the speedster’s palm.

“I’d like to talk to you. So, give me a call? I’ll see you around though so maybe we can chat before that,” Anthony said, already backing up before Tommy could think over what had just occurred. “I missed you. I mean that.”

Then he was off, back at Tommy, heading off to wherever the hell he went, and abandoning Tommy to a few numbers on his skin.

Noh-Varr had struggled to maneuver the campus and orientate himself after nothing but Tommy’s scent, which was polluted by the hundreds of other students crossing the lawn and pathways at random.

He was supposed to pick his lover up after his first day of class, and they were supposed to go on another date tonight, or rather, at least celebrate. Noh-Varr had hoped he could convince Tommy to cook, because, even though he was secretive about the fact, Tommy cooking for him was better than the most expensive food they could buy in a restaurant cooked by professional chefs.

At home, he could wrap his arms around Tommy’s waist, lean his head down on a slim shoulder and watch the miraculous blend of spices and meat, of sauce and base...humans were incredibly creative.

With all the spare time he had, he’d been able to read up on human history, on the development of their culture and thinking. And again, he found himself surprised by this yet so primitive race with enormous potential. Just like Tommy...humans could be horrible, but also amazing.

Right now he was tending to horrible because the stares clinging to him as he moved through the crowd in search of Tommy were practically eating through his clothing, leather jacket, a white, rather tight muscle shirt, jeans and boots. His hair was almost tenderly brushed and gelled slightly at the top. He’d spent a little too much time with Rebel Without A Cause and James Dean took an undeniable influence on him.

Finally...the scent he’d been searching for.

“Tom-My.” he purred and headed for him.

Tommy stood there for a moment, like the peak of a boulder that stuck out of the ocean as the waves swept around him, not affecting him in the slightest.

Eventually, his stupor gave way to his temper, and he clenched his fist, already knowing he was going to call the bastard, though he would continue to wrestle that decision throughout the night. Pain, discomfort, or whatever it was making his chest ache had to be ignored for now, just like he ignored it in the past. Easy.

Tommy perked up, sensing Noh-Varr in an instant. It might have been senses honed from training as a superhero, paired with his super speedy skills, that had him zero in on where Noh-Varr was coming from. A glance here and then--

“Noh-Varr,” he said, and breathing became a bit easier.

Without a hitch, he made straight toward him, not even paying notice to those who were ogling Noh-Varr like a scrap of meat. Tommy reached out when they were close enough and flew into his arms, grounding himself in his scent and ridiculously stupid (cute) infatuation with James Dean.

He’d expected happiness, maybe a little irritation and some mocking of his odd style obsession, but none of the above came from Tommy, who threw himself against him with the ferocity of a pair of magnets forced apart and released. The Kree enfolded Tommy into his arms, shielded him from the world as he nuzzled the speedster’s head.

“How was your first day? Not to your liking?”

Tommy squeezed him back, not answering just yet. When he had his fill of Noh-Varr’s scent and arms and nuzzling, he leaned back. All the looks they earned bounced off whatever shield Noh-Varr managed to always put up when they were together.

“Life just messing with me,” Tommy said, running a hand through his hair, and realizing too late it was the one with pen on it. At least it was mostly dry. “Ugh. I’m beat. What do you say if we ditch the restaurant and pick up food on the way home?”

He never said ‘please’ around anyone, barely said it beyond that one time with Noh-Varr, but the way he looked at the alien was as good enough as saying it then.

Noh-Varr plucked the pen from Tommy’s hand and tucked it behind his ear in lieu of a cigarette, a habit Tommy wouldn’t let him try for some odd reason.

“I was going to ask you to cook, but under these circumstances, I could be persuaded to offer you cardboard stew with a side of organic trash salad.”

They didn’t really ever speak seriously about Noh-Varr’s first attempt at offering Tommy something he himself cooked and although the sentiment had been sweet, the speedster never really forgave him for the stench lingering in the kitchen for days.

Tommy smirked, the memory fresh and a much needed visitor among the ones currently dragging his mood down.

“You know how to get a guy through the stomach, huh?” He squeezed Noh-Varr’s hand and tugged him along. 

They took the longer route home. Noh-Varr was the only creature that could coax Tommy to take it slow, and the speedster often found it wasn’t so bad when he could watch Noh-Varr drink up the lights, the people, and cars.

It made for good distraction too, Tommy unsure how to bring up the topic. He suddenly had a newfound sense of symapthy for couples who grappled with this kind of decision. Ultimately, by the time they made it to their (and how good it felt to know that) home, Tommy knew it wasn’t a topic Noh-Varr wouldn’t appreciate being left out of.

Not one for cushioning the blows of bad news, Tommy leaned against the counter, setting down their Chinese and Greek takeout.

“I ran into him today,” he said. “That boy. The one I told you about from when I was a teen.” Without sparing the alien a look, he flashed his messy palm toward him. “That’s his number.”

Noh had been happy to return to their ‘nest’, the small world where truly only the two of them existed. And right now, he felt as if there was an invasion and some fool had broken the door down and stood between them.

He remembered all too well to whom Tommy must be referring and his eyes met the ink on the palm. Without breaking eye contact with Tommy, he took the dishcloth, still moist from when Noh had done the latest bout of absurd alien housework and wiped over it, once, twice, five times.

“I do not see a number, Tom-My. Does his existence hold any relevance to you? Do you wish for vengeance? I can be persuaded to study crime law so we can dispose of the body. If all else fails we can eat it, for me, it isn’t cannibalism.”

Tommy allowed Noh-Varr to wipe the number off; the speedster had already committed it to his bank vault of a memory. It was the talk of vengeance and then cannibalism that broke his stiff posture. How Noh-Varr could elicit a laugh out of him when he was sure none were left in him, who knew. 

“You’re crazy,” Tommy said, looping his arms around Noh-Varr and kissing him to prevent a protest. “You’re a bit naive to know this, but you’re quite the boyfriend. You put Teddy to shame.”

His fingers lazed at the stretch of Noh-Varr’s neck, fingertips grazing the short hair at the nape.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Something tells me, my gut actually, that I’m going to be seeing him around. I wonder if we even get any classes together.” He grunted. “I should just call him and have him meet me in an alley and then dunk his head in the river.”

Noh chuckled, just lightly, mostly to humour Tommy’s notion of vengeance. Dunking a head wasn’t nearly the fair retribution Noh would have ordered, but this was not his business to settle.

“You do not want me to accompany you? I would be more than glad to do the actual dunking, though I can’t guarantee he won’t drown. I hear that happens all the time.”

Tommy rode out a few more chuckles before kissing Noh-Varr again and pulling away. 

“No, the weird part is that I think he is sorry. Might be sorry, anyway. Maybe he got into some Alcoholics Anonymous program and has to make right all the wrongs he did, turn his life around. I tell you, the old Anthony wouldn’t be caught dead at college.”

As he said all that, Tommy fished for his phone from his backpack and flopped onto the couch, studying the blank screen that awaited him to punch in a number.

“If he is sorry, you think I could still get away with a punch to the face and balls?”

“Definitely.”

Noh-Varr sensed the need for some privacy, so he took the food into the kitchen to compile himself a massive mixplate and add a few unorthodox sauces to the mix. He’d really discovered a bizarre flair for mixing flavours and spices.

Despite the protest Tommy’s heart made at having to be away from Noh-Varr already, he opted to sink into the privacy allowed for the call; after all, it wouldn’t do him well to label Noh-Varr as a raging, possessive boyfriend who wouldn’t even allow his little hala to call another person.

Heart dropping into his gut, Tommy punched the number and hoped for an answering machine.

Of course after one ring the other line picked up.

“Hello?”

“Uh,” very articulate. “It’s me.”

“Tommy.”

“That would be me.”

“You really called. In a couple of hours.”

Tommy tapped his thigh. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Right. My bad.”

Tommy had plenty of other ‘bads’ to add to that list, but exhaled hard instead. “So, what did you really want from me? Am I supposed to believe you joined a program that tells you to right the wrongs of your past?”

“I don’t need a program to tell me that.”

“You’d never attend college.”

Anthony laughed softly. “I could say the same about you.”

True enough. “I still hate you.”

“I don’t blame you if you do, or if you wanted to punch me.”

“I do.”

Anthony paused. “Let me buy you coffee or something. Just to talk. If you still want to punch me after, you can.”

It didn’t take long for Tommy to weigh the urge he had to deliver a good, solid punch. “Okay,” he said. “But I pick the place and time.”

“Anything you want.”

Tommy bristled. He hung up.

Noh-Varr couldn’t help listening to the call, something in his gut churning with alarm. He distrusted people in general, but with this one, he had plentiful reason to. Anyone who had hurt Tommy in the past was likely to do so again and his protective instinct knew no restraint when it came to his lover, his hala.

But he also knew that commitment alone was scary for Tommy, he really didn’t need to add restraint of freedom and distrust into the mix. So he came back from the kitchen, presenting food like a good boyfriend and settling next to Tommy on the couch, an arm sliding around his waist.

“You’re going to meet him? Alone?”

Noh-Varr knew exactly when to enter, like a practiced actor perfecting his cue to come on stage. With a grateful grunt, Tommy dipped into Noh-Varr’s side, balancing his takeout and wolfing it down with an appetite only outmatched by Noh-Varr, and that was mostly due to his boyfriend being a human garbage disposal system.

Once a third of his food was down, Tommy shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not going to meet him alone, alone. There’s a burger joint a couple blocks down. Johnny Rockets. I’ll pick that spot. Close by, a lot of people.”

There was a moment where Tommy chewed a fraction slower than was usual, then he began fiddling with his food, nudging it around.

“If you want...you could...you know, sit at a booth in the corner. Just...not where I’ll be, but still there.”

Noh paused in his feeding frenzy to listen very carefully, to pick up the nuances in Tommy’s tone. And he couldn’t help smiling. Tommy never asked for help and he was fiercely independent, but he was starting to trust Noh-Varr very deeply and that honoured the Kree. It honoured him and reaffirmed his belief that Tommy and he belonged together, destiny or not.

“I do like burgers. It’s a likely possibility I could be hungry at that precise moment. And if I see any unpleasantry being acted towards you, I reserve my right to show that human the mistake of mistreating my hala.”

Tommy hid his smile around his sip of water. Once he set it down, he was back, sagging into his Kree and figuring this hiccup paled beneath the might of Noh-Varr and his arsenal of perfect boyfriend etiquette, human or not.

“That will be convenient,” he said. “And maybe after dinner I might be of the mind to let a particular Kree do as he wishes with me.”

Noh-Varr did do as he wished, and Tommy had no protests.

*

The burger joint was a classic homage to the 50s, when times were as quieter as racism was a striking reality. Though Tommy supposed it was more appropriate things were only quiet because they would have been swept up under the rug instead, by a housewife no less.

Still, it brought good jams and was always stuffed with hungry patrons eager to fill their blood vessels with good ol’ plump burgers. Tommy made sure he arrived earlier, preferring to have the stage set on his terms. There was a squeeze of Noh-Varr’s hand before they parted ways, Tommy hooking up at the bar area and Noh-Varr to take a corner booth.

One part of Tommy wouldn’t have mind to be the one arriving later, if only to let Anthony stew in his own discomfort, but that satisfaction didn’t outweigh everything else.

Tommy ordered a milkshake and burger with everything on it, refusing to spare a glance at Noh-Varr. As much as the Kree was a pillar of his nerve, a look back at him could have it teeter over into the abyss that had Tommy dragging him back home where they were safe and together.

“Hey.”

Here it was. Tommy compiled every nerve in him and looked at Anthony.

Anthony half-smiled and sat beside him. He also ordered a milkshake and burger with everything on it.

Tommy chewed hard on his fries, taking Anthony in small doses between hard snaps of his jaw.

“We hung out here our first time alone from the group,” Anthony said.

Tommy snorted. “You remember.”

“I never forgot.”

“Look, let’s get down to the basics.”

“I know I fucked up, Tommy, alright? I admit I didn’t realize it at the time—“

“Charming.”

“But I did. When it was too late.” Anthony leaned a little forward. “I heard you were hauled to prison and so…”

“What? Had an epiphany?”

“You could say that. When we’re that age, we don’t think anything can touch us. I was sure you were gone for good and it just all hit me that you were gone knowing how I treated you.”

Tommy fingered a fry between his fingers. At the least, he could supple Anthony with understanding that sentiment. He shoved the fry in his mouth instead.

“Is that your third burger?”

Tommy, caught out of left field, looked at him. Regretted it. He glared at his plate. “No. First.”

Anthony’s chuckle was still toxic to his ears, pumping life into the good memories Tommy had of him. “You always did eat a lot.”

“It’s because I’m a mutant, something you made very clear to the gang.”

Anthony sighed. He waited as the order was placed in front of him before speaking again. “You know Marie?”

Tommy frowned as he drowned his fries in ketchup. Of course he knew Marie. She was Anthony’s little sister, one of the few girls Tommy genuinely liked being around, and not at all in that way. She was sweet, not that he’d admit that, preferring to tease her like she was the kid sister he never had.

It was one of the few thorns in his heart that wouldn’t go away, the face she made knowing he was mutant-kind.

“Yeah,” was all he answered.

“I think she missed you most.”

Tommy picked up on the tense. “Missed?”

Anthony was chewing, slowly, eyes a bit glassy. He swallowed, then set the burger down, wiping his hands on a napkin. “She died last year.”

The blow impaled itself so deep in Teddy’s gut he thought he might not be able to handle food the rest of the day. What anger he housed for Anthony was shelved, curiosity and a new kind of anger marking its path inside him.

“Tell me,” he said.

With only a few peeks in his direction, Anthony said, “Was my fault. I was still in with that kind of crowd, and, well…”

Tommy listened, enraptured by how Anthony’s involvement in some petty drug-laundering ended with his little sister face first in an alley pillared with nothing but garbage cans, and occasional rat. Tommy ran a hand through his hair and shut his eyes, a momentary silence for her. Tommy never held anything against her after all.

The restaurant was suddenly cold.

“I’m not saying,” Anthony went on, delicately, “that my shit from that makes all the bad things I made okay. It made them really bad.” Tommy heard him take in an unsteady breath. “I knew I had to get out. I started working a decent job, not much money though. Got into the university with a lot of work.”

Tommy couldn’t help himself. “Studying?”

“Law.”

That confirmed their classes would overlap at some point. Tommy didn’t like to think about how their motives stemmed from a similar origin, their passion for change guiding them to work from the inside of the system. Damn it all.

Tommy huffed and faced his near-empty plate now, in a tangle of new circumstances. Was his anger misguided as much as Anthony’s behavior toward him had been? Probably. Noh-Varr did say humans were chaotic, after their own demise pretty much, and Tommy couldn’t say he was any different.

“Did they catch whoever got her?” Tommy asked. The image of her body left that was wouldn’t shake off.

“No…”

Tommy nodded. That’s how it went. The really good ones always end up dead first.

“Tommy, I—“

“Don’t. I don’t want apologies. Words are useless to me.”

“Listen,” Anthony said, firmer, eyes harder. It ebbed as quickly as it came as he reached a heavy hand into his pocket and slipped it over. “It’s a note from her, to you.”

Tommy snatched it but didn’t open it. “What? Why to me?”

“I don’t know. It was in her drawer when I was,” Anthony cleared his throat, “cleaning her stuff out. It said it was for you and, I don’t know, I just couldn’t bring myself to read it, even if she wasn’t around to scream at me for doing it.”

Tommy tucked the note away, eyes back on his bloody fries. This wasn’t at all how he planned things to go, and now all his irritation or anger was out of reach. He was just tired now, riding a low. Somewhere inside his internal devices he recognized he must have been in part shock from hearing about a gruesome death, the kind of thing guys like Tommy were supposed to prevent.

Anthony had been able to flip Tommy’s world on its head, and it was great, and it seemed he could still pull that same trick, if with different, more solemn results.

Probably sensing the malaise, Anthony said, “I’m not saying that we gotta be tight like before, Tommy. I do want to make it up to you, or at least show you that I don’t mean the things I said before. I was…going through some shit and I let you take the heat of it all. But, maybe, we could try to work out being friends again if things turn out okay and you’re fine with that. If not, that’s fine too.”

Tommy wanted to tug on his hair or snap at him to stop talking. None of those things happened, and Tommy buried deeper into his thoughts.

After a while of actual silence from Anthony, Tommy exhaled hard. “I’m sorry.”

Anthony seemed taken aback to hear those words. “Wha—“

“Not to you. To her.” Tommy scrubbed his face with his palm. Where was his sarcasm and wit when he needed it. “No,” he finally said.

“No?”

“I don’t think I want to waste my effort punching you.”

There was a sound, like a kind of chuckle, and Tommy couldn’t stop himself from smirking. Some relationships had a clear path, beginning to end, but with Anthony, it was all muddled. Good shone through bad, and bad weighed down good. Tommy didn’t have the patience to rummage through it all and decide one thing or another. It’d been a long day, and for Marie’s sake he could save his punch for a later time.

“Thanks,” Anthony said. “I know I, ah, rather ruined the mood, but if you’re up to letting me make some amends, there’s a party going on this Friday. You should come. It’s at one of the big frat houses. Invite only but I’ll let them know you’re good for it. It’ll be a lot of fun, a much needed welcoming to the new school year.”

“I don’t know. No. Maybe.”

Anthony laughed and he tugged out his wallet, already putting money on the table to cover both of their meals. “I’ll text you the info just in case. That okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” Tommy wanted to leave and just go for a six-hour run. There was too much percolating in his mind.

“Great.” Anthony sounded genuinely happy and it stroked Tommy’s ego.

With gradual movements, Anthony finished eating. They talked. Rather, Anthony talked, and Tommy replied with short responses, or grunted. A handful of times Tommy smirked at stories Anthony had to share about his expeditions to get to college. For what Anthony lacked in humility, he sustained his likeability with his stories, always tagged with that smile. Tommy use to think he was the kind of guy who was smart enough that school was a drag for them, and yet dumb enough to seek the thrills of owning a motorcycle or committing burglary.

When Anthony finally finished, Tommy felt he had found some foothold, less floating directionless as before. They had been there a little over an hour, and the moment Tommy stood he realized his legs were aching for a run.

“I take it we part ways here,” Anthony said, gesturing to the door.

Tommy gave him a look that confirmed as much.

“No hard feelings,” Anthony replied, smiling, and making his way toward the front. “Hope to see you Friday though. And thanks. It was good talking to you. Like old times.”

He left, and Tommy stared at the spot where he had been.

From the moment the man had entered the diner, a pair of sharp, cerulean eyes had been documenting his every movement. Noh-Varr didn’t need more than half a minute to assess him as entirely human and he didn’t waste a moment trusting in Tommy’s judge of character. As mentioned before, anyone who’d hurt Tommy once would do so again, or attempt to and suffer for it at Noh’s hands.

Actually, he almost wanted the young man to go ahead and just TRY to do something, the tiniest twitch or attempted touch towards Tommy and Noh-Varr would literally rip him limb from limb. And he’d take great pleasure in it too.

The food he’d ordered was awaiting his consumption and he had to pace himself not to devour it in one, impatient instant. Noh-Varr even took care not to eat the wrappings, even though he’d usually never leave out such a part of his food, since it still held flavour and an inkling of taste.  
But he was undercover, he was human here, that’s why he was wearing a hood, and casual clothing...nothing to rouse suspicion. 

And yet, nothing happened. He didn’t know if they’d been talking ten minutes or an hour, but there was little to give him rise and occasion to go smash a human skull or maybe even crush someone’s head between thighs and what-not.

Tommy looked...utterly engaged by the conversation, displeased at first, then it softened, there was intrigue there, not comfort, but definitely an acceptance of the company and situation. Noh didn’t like it one bit.

He’d finished off everything on his plate including the paper wrappers and cardboard cup by the time Anthony left and he came over to Tommy, eager to drape his arms around the speedster but restraining himself from doing so in public.

“If you want me to drown him in a river, say the word now whilst I can still smell him.”

Noh-Varr’s voice soothed over the worst of the tense nerves lining Tommy’s upper back Pity it couldn’t do the same for the bedlam in Tommy’s mind. He had to attribute that to having a brain that processed information faster than a couple of blinks. Anthony was raw in his mind, both from having coaxed out past memories between them, and adding to the pile with what had been said today.

Tommy managed a smirk at least and looked at the Kree. “Not today, but I’ll keep the sentiment in mind.” 

As he paid for Noh-Varr’s share of the food, less the waitress throw a fit, Tommy concluded something he had been considering since Anthony left.

“No,” he said to Noh-Varr, “I think I’m going to take you to a party. He invited me. I’m going.”

“A party?” Noh-Varr had never been to one, but from what he’d absorbed from the massive amounts of television he’d consumed, he knew they were events for humans to get intoxicated at and commit foolish acts.

But he was game for any experience Tommy wanted to share with him.

*  
The party was definitely a bad idea. Noh-Varr felt it deep in his bones as they made their way to the crowded location. He could hear and smell intoxicated humans, music booming painfully through his auditory system and a general dislike already brimming in his stomach.

Tommy had enforced very little will on his clothes and he did look good, or at least, what he considered good, but even in these civilian clothes, he couldn’t feel more alien to this world. And Tommy was not holding his hand, he wasn’t close enough to touch. He’d been so oddly distracted ever since meeting with Anthony.

Typical party, typical people, typical everything, and Tommy had to soak it in and allow himself a moment of astonishment that he had been part of this herd not too long ago. His eyes never stopped scanning for Anthony, the man having weighed down on Tommy’s mind the last few days, distracting him, tangling his thoughts into tighter knots when he thought he’d worked it out.

Tommy spotted a table lined with drinks and decided he could use on, even if the effect was lost too quickly on him. Turning around, he spotted Noh-Varr looking like the alien he was, and Tommy had to smile, finding leverage in remembering Noh-Varr was here.

“Hey,” he called over the music. “Dummy, come here.”

He waited until Noh-Varr was close to grab them both cups, offering one to the Kree. “I don’t know what kind of effect alcohol has on you, so just a bit for now.”

Noh-Varr was already gaining attention, but his eyes seemed only on Tommy and the drink he’d been presented. Tommy found a laugh inside him. Leaning up, he pulled the Kree down to speak into his ear, stroking his neck as he did.

“We won’t be long,” he said. 

“Tommy?”

Tommy dropped his hand instantly, attention diving toward the voice.

“Oh.” He blinked, feeling strangely awkward that Anthony was smiling at him though he knew the man would be here, had invited him.

Anthony wasn’t looking at him though, instead dark eyes pinned on the not-so-human beside Tommy. “Who is this?”

“Oh, right.” Tommy nudged Noh-Varr with his shoulder. “This is Noh-V-er...Noh.”

“No?”

“Noh.”

Anthony smirked. “You guys related?”

Tommy’s face felt warmer than he remembered. “No. He’s,” he glanced at the alien, “my partner.”

He’d been anticipating the reaction the moment they left their place, calculating the probability of disgust, of horror, of anything that wasn’t good when Tommy admitted that the person he was settling alright with was a guy. An alien at that, but no need to say much on that matter.

“You mean you’re banging each other?”

“Jesus,” Tommy said, bristling. “You think you can be cruder?”

Anthony laughed, but there wasn’t much mirth to it. “Alright, alright. Sorry. I get it. Noh, then, nice to meet you,” he said, eyes never having left Noh-Varr, even as he extended his hand to the Kree.

Noh-Varr didn’t lift a finger to greet the man. He’d felt the eyes on him and returned the stare with vicious protective intent. He disliked this human and just because Tommy deigned him worthy of another conversation didn’t mean Noh’s assessment of him wasn’t accurate. The way he’d said ‘banged each other’, though really not expressive or offensive to the Kree, but he felt Tommy bristle and he heard the drawl. The lightest touch of mockery.

“It is not a pleasure. I did not wish to make your acquaintance,” he was growling, or spitting or something primal enough to show this man that he was about half an inch from getting the life beaten out of him by someone who could rip a bus in half.

“Noh!” Tommy shoved the Kree in the arm with his elbow. 

Anthony didn’t share Tommy’s outrage, instead laughing and waving Noh-Varr’s behavior with a flick of his wrist. “Don’t worry about it. I can tell he’s the protective type, huh?” 

Tommy scowled at Noh-Varr, then looked down at his drink. “I don’t need protecting. I’m capable of taking care of myself. He’s just not from around here. He’s learning how to talk to people.”

Anthony finally drew his eyes on Tommy, taking in his glory from head to toe.

“I see. Where’s he from?”

Tommy selected the first thing that popped to mind. “Europe.”

“How’d you two meet?”

“Long story.”

“You guys been together long?”

“None of your business.”

Anthony tilted his head. “Fair enough. I was just curious who could have you of all people take it slow.” He smiled knowingly, and Tommy could practically see him reliving memories of how he learned about Tommy’s speedy skills.

“He knows,” Tommy said, gesturing to Noh, who was practically more of a third party object than part of the conversation. “Noh knows all about me. Wouldn’t work otherwise.”

“All about you?”

Tommy pressed his lips together hard, then pulled a long gulp of his drink. He wasn’t ignorant of the weight of both Noh-Varr and Anthony’s presence squishing him, the tension between the two young men vibrant enough to make Tommy want to shield his eyes and run away.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” he said, setting his drink down. Before he left, he offered Noh-Varr’s hand a squeeze, more for himself than anything, and then shoved a pathway between the two men, heading for the farthest bathroom.

Tommy’s departure dropped the temperature to a solid zero despite the heat of a crowd of bodies dancing to the thump of the music.  
Noh-Varr’s gaze was nothing but ice and he was slowly dissecting Anthony in his mind. He didn’t like the way this man smelled, talked and looked at Tommy. As if he had any right to look at him at all.

He wondered just how much trouble he would be in for maiming just one human that truly deserved it.

They were alone. The Kree sneered, aware of the inches he had on Anthony and his general strength. Maybe he should have shaken the man’s hand, shaken and crushed it.

“We will not be here long. This event is ridiculous.”

Anthony knew the other man was analyzing every scrap of him, so he straightened and smiled more and held his chin up as though he knew what kind of proud stallion he measured up to be. The ice between them didn’t so much as affect his casual demeanor though as he sipped his own drink, eyes raking over this fellow that had Tommy for himself.

“I think Tommy likes it. He always liked wild parties, was the party himself if you asked around,” Anthony said, ignoring the hostility. “I gotta say though, I’m impressed someone with a sour face and charm like yours has him as a boyfriend and not some easy lay.”

He laughed, a short-lived sound that was not sweet. “No offense, or anything. You’re just not the kind of guy he really went for back then. Then again, I have a feeling he told you enough about the guys of his past if you’re looking at me like you want to break me in half.” 

Another tilt of the head, another easy sip. “Or no? Did he only mention me? Just the one ‘guy’ instead of all the ‘guys’ in his life?”

Noh-Varr didn’t smile or laugh along with Anthony’s commentary, he continued to stare at the man as if he was an emerging Skrull. Actually, he stank worse than one, Noh would probably prefer to smell Teddy in every pore of being rather than this human. It would be so easy, to just quickly grab his head, twist to the side, one jerk and he’d be dead. He could claim it to be accident and all..

But then the words sank in and the Kree blinked, insecurity seeping into the anger. 

“What other guys? Tom-My only told me about one...which was you.”

Anthony shrugged one shoulder and scanned the crowd as though he could just pluck any guy from the crowd and dub him having had sloppy seconds of Tommy Shepherd.

“Tommy loved attention, Noh,” he said. “And I meant loved it. You think I was the only guy he fooled around with? Don’t forget the girls too, but it was guys I know he liked winning over. Just to be blunt, he liked the kind of guy who could prove they were able to handle his smart mouth.”

He looked back at Noh, lip twitching but not quite putting up a full smile. “Sorry. I guess there’s quite a bit he hasn’t told you about. Not my place to say, is it?”

“He would have told me himself,” Noh-Varr tried to keep the doubt at bay. This man was his enemy, this man did not want Tommy’s best or care for him in any fashion. It was Noh-Varr’s place to stand by his hala, not to doubt him. Whatever Tommy hadn’t told him so far, there were reasons for. Reasons that his lover would explain to him. No aspect of their relationship involved Anthony.

“And you would do best to remain at your station. I have been known to kill for less reason than your slanderous lies.”

At that, Anthony’s eyebrows went up, eyes alight. “I sense truth in your words. You’re not kidding. So, a convict, is it? Maybe you’re Tommy’s type after all.”

He surveyed the area once more, confirming that Tommy was no where near the vicinity. 

“I don’t doubt you’ll break my nose, but I do mean what I say. I just want to make it up to him, show him I have changed. If things work out and we’re friends again, great. If not, that’s fine.” His eyes, darkening with something more feral than anyone else was allowed to pick up, rested on Noh-Varr again, surveying him like the trash he seemed to be. “And if he’s eager to return to my bed, then even better.”

Noh would have stayed calm, if Anthony had spared himself the last words slipping from his mouth. The Kree went from mildly irritated to murderous in the span of half a second, grabbing the young man by his collar and lifting him up by the neck, snarling with more rage than he’d felt in a long time.

“He will not. Push me further, will you? One more word and I break your fucking neck.”

He was glad he’d learned some slang, including curse-words, because otherwise his threats would definitely lose weight.

Anthony’s reaction was unlike the average person at the party. Save for the sudden inhale of breath, he was silent, either stifling the surprised cry or never having one to let loose. His lips pressed into a fine line, eyes hard as Noh’s was venomous. Then, in two heart beats his smile returned, a half tug to his lips that sufficed as a preamble for the cry that came from the other side of the room, and it wasn’t from the startled crowd.

“Noh!” It was Tommy, hurrying and bullying through the gathered party-goers. “The fuck are you doing! Put him down, NOW!” 

His hands swept and clung to Noh’s massive arm, unable to convince him to let Anthony go with the yanking alone (Noh easily outmatched him in strength), but it was the best Tommy could supply without giving away he was a mutant.

“This trash deserves a few broken limbs, one of them preferably his spine!” Noh seethed, letting Anthony drop back down, murder in his eyes. Though it was a feat of his self-control that the human suffered nothing more than ruffled clothing.

While Anthony cleared his throat and adjusted the signs of abuse, Tommy was all over Noh, shoving him and shouting, arms gesticulating. All his conflicted thoughts and emotions had him flailing around more than usual, and he hardly noticed.

“You can’t just grab someone like that! You could get thrown in jail!” Tommy smacked his chest, trying to urge Noh-Varr to duck into a hallway so they could speak privately. “Get your ass upstairs! Now.”

He pointed up, deciding the hallway would be too easy to filter out their conversation (argument) into the party.

He had no idea why Tommy was mad at him, if he’d heard the things Anthony said, he would have been outraged and he would have approved Noh’s reaction. Or at least, the Kree thought that his defense of his lover was perfectly justified.

Noh obediently trudged upstairs into the hallway, though he looked terribly confused by this whole mess.

“Why are you angry at me, Tom-My? It was my right to treat that low-life in such a manner.”

Away from the congestion, and Anthony, who had nodded in understanding when Tommy glanced over his shoulder, the speedster sank against the door he slammed to some cozy room they stomped into.

“I’m angry because you can’t do that here.” Tommy jabbed his finger in his chest. “What the hell do you think Cap would do if he found out you were picking people up like twigs and ready to break them? You’d be in more trouble than I can cover for, that’s fucking what!”

He groaned and shook his head, stepping away. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. It’s my fault. I just needed a moment to think and of course I couldn’t have that.” He threw his arms up in the air, then glowered at Noh.

Despite his ire, his eyes softened a little taking Noh’s state in. “Listen, in a minute you’re going to tell me what set you off, and it better be a fucking good reason, but I need you to understand you can’t just do that kind of thing here.” He stepped close, cupping Noh-Varr’s jaw. “Okay? No one is worth going to jail for, or having the Avengers up your ass, especially not some guy who I knew years ago.”

He wanted to argue, wanted to justify his actions and the extent of his rage because of that incorrigible human, wanted Tommy to understand that no one had the right to slander his name with accusations, but he let him finish. Perhaps he’d misjudged Tommy’s priorities, if his only concern was Noh’s stay out of prison and trouble.

“He said some things about you. Things I will not tolerate. He said you have been with many, and that your relations are flimsy and insubstantial. I understand what you are saying, but there is one person worth going to imprisonment for. I would kill in a heartbeat for you, hala.”

He leaned into the touch, desperate for Tommy’s affection and attention.

Tommy’s sigh was mixed with a chuckle. “I know that’s meant to be your way of being romantic, but if you’re imprisoned, I don’t get to do this.” He tilted up and kissed Noh-Varr, a little longer than planned, but there was no helping that.

When he was flat on his feet again, Tommy let out that long exhale he’d been holding upon Noh’s mention of what Anthony said.

“Let’s not talk about that, okay?” It was one of few topics Tommy’s heart didn’t want to revisit, ever if possible. “I’ll talk to him. Alone. Later. It was probably another bad idea on my part to introduce you so soon. We came here to party, so I intend to do just that .Drink a bit. Dance a bit, meet a handsome stranger,” he hoped Noh-Varr picked up on the fact that the alien was said stranger, “and wake up with a headache.”

In his opinion, the kiss could have lingered hours rather than minutes, but Noh was satisfied to hear the rage quelled from Tommy’s voice. He really didn’t want to be fighting with his human boyfriend, especially not over a stupid matter such as Anthony and his lies. This was real. Tommy’s affection for him was all that mattered, the only thing he should put any trust into.

“Since you have already met a more than handsome stranger, could we not just leave? Alcohol has no effect on me and I can’t say this noise is to my liking.”

Tommy frowned, a pang of guilt striking him. He could tell Noh-Varr was not up for this kind of partying, and the Kree had enough of drama for one night.

“Alright, alright.” He patted Noh-Varr’s chest and gestured with his thumb. “I’m going to stay around just for a bit longer. I did promise someone from one of my classes to say hi to her here. Why don’t you go home and pick some songs that I can’t stand but you’re crazy about, and when I get home, we can have our own party. Sound good?”

“That sounds like a much better idea,” Noh’s temper was long since appeased and he couldn’t actually stand the atmosphere here, too much drink, too much noise and no human interaction worth any quality research into the species’ positive aspects. Heading home and preparing a private celebration for himself and Tommy with the outlook of another night of mind-blowing sex seemed like a dreamlike suggestion and had him forget about the discomforts of meeting Anthony.

Tommy walked him to the door, though they didn’t embrace again, just a meaningful look passed between the silver-haired couple.

“Don’t be too long. I get lonely without you.”


	8. Chapter 8

Way back when, Tommy would have been the life of this sorry excuse for a party. He knew what to say, what to do, how to put the charms on everyone and plant some chagrin in those who shunned him. The attention always targeted him sooner or later, help or no help from his behavior.

But it was a decent enough event, a bit dull thanks to Tommy’s newfound appreciation for legal activities (mostly, he was drinking after all) and his past experiences at really crazy get togethers. And maybe he was feeling the empty space at his side too much, the spot Noh-Varr should have been at.

Tommy shouldn’t have been drinking much. It took a lot to hit his body and he’d only ever been drunk a total of two times. As of now, he was feeling the buzz, teetering toward tipsiness the more his thoughts about Noh-Varr and Anthony merged into some big monster in his head.

After Noh left, Tommy had confronted Anthony, and was met with apologies and an understanding that what Tommy had done or did do was not his business. Anthony had gone on to say he was just trying to answer Noh’s probing questions, and had only said he wasn’t the only guy Tommy had been with, in some way or another.

Well, Tommy didn’t know what to do with that information. Part of him prickled still at it all, another part seemed sympathetic that Noh’s personality might have equally led to the near-bone breaking moment, and another part was just fed up with all the overthinking.

Hence another cup of alcohol down Tommy’s throat, the burn an old friend Tommy sometimes wished he hadn’t given up. He talked to people, met the girl from his class. She was nice. Smart too. Nice rack. Tommy would have hit on her any other day, but the thought didn’t cross his mind once, even when she suggested they exchange numbers and hit up some coffee sometime.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, half-meaning it. Alcohol cottoned his sarcastic tendencies. “I’m with someone, but hanging out is okay if that’s fine.”

She had looked a bit hurt, but then smiled and Tommy liked that. He was a bit bummed to see her go, mostly because it left him vulnerable for anyone to approach, and Anthony was the one to take that spot she had been in.

“Hey,” Anthony said.

Tommy stuck his tongue out at him. “Asshole.”

Anthony laughed. It was a nice sound overall. “Are you drunk?”

“I’m never drunk.”

“I’ve seen you drunk once.”

“I was drunk once,” Tommy amended.

“You seem a little flushed. Should I be flattered?”

Tommy stabbed a finger at his direction, which didn’t amount to much when it was with the hand holding his cup. “You’re pissing me off.”

“I don’t mean to. We’ve always sort of clashed. Just our personalities.” Anthony sounded too sober for Tommy’s liking.

“I guess.”

“Can I at least ask what you’re studying without you biting my head off or your boyfriend threatening to break me in half?”

“Hey,” Tommy tried the stabbing thing again. “You don’t say anything bad about him. I love him.” He didn’t even realize he said it, but felt himself warm up all the same.

Anthony’s face looked blank for a moment, and Tommy was certain his speedster skills hadn’t lied about that, even if they were a little sloppy at the moment.

“I wasn’t trying to insult him. He did threaten me.”

Tommy finished the contents of his cup. “I’m studying CLS.”

“What?”

“Criminology/Law/Society.”

“Oh, so almost the same as me.”

“I’m not going to law school after this though.”

“You could,” Anthony said.

“I could punch you.” Tommy smirked, then broke out laughing at the face Anthony made. “You should have seen how high Noh held you up. You looked like a stupid doll.”

“I’m glad my near-death experience amuses you.” Anthony reached out and batted Tommy’s hand away. “Whoa, I think you’ve had enough of those drinks.”

“Fuck you. I can do what I want.”

“I’m serious. You’re already tipsy. That means you had a shitload to drink.”

“I did not have a shitload.”

Anthony parried Tommy’s second attempt. “Jesus, come on.” He easily grabbed Tommy’s arms and guided him upstairs, manhandling him most of the way. “Come on, come on. Easy. You gonna puke?”

“If I do, I’ll aim at your shoes.”

“Great.”

There was some elbowing of doors and toeing them shut, and then Tommy was sitting on the bed, staring at the spinning carpet.

“Want to tell me why you’re drinking so much?”

Tommy sighed and flopped onto his side, his spine too weak to support him. “Noh-Varr hates me now.”

A laugh. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have taken him to the party,” Tommy said, more conversing with his inner self than Anthony, who was rustling around in the room.

“He doesn’t hate you. Though he’s kind of obsessed.”

“He’s not obsessed.”

“Right. Fine.”

The world tilted and Tommy was suddenly picturing the blank ceiling, drawing shapes that ended up making Noh-Varr’s image. He blinked and then pinched his eyes shut. “I think I’m a little drunk,” he said.

Anthony was by his side, frisking his pockets.

Tommy flinched.

“Sorry,” Anthony backed up, hands up. “I was checking for your phone.”

Tommy wanted to lift his hands, but they were lead. “I feel funny.”

“Here, think you’ll be okay on your own for a second? I’ll go downstairs and get you some water.”

Tommy tried to reply, but his tongue might as well have been sand, and he stayed put. He heard the door open, close, and didn’t hear it open again too soon for Anthony to be back. There was more noise, feet treading, sneaking? The bed creaked, and Tommy didn’t remember moving to make the sound.

He opened his eyes, and there was someone looming over him. He barely made anything out but hair that was not Noh-Varr’s, or dark like Anthony’s. Blonde maybe? Wide body.

The guy, Tommy assumed it was, said something, then a hand was on his jaw, painful in its grip and a mouth crushed his.

The way home from the party had been a sobering experience, even if Noh hadn’t actually gotten any kind of intoxicated from the small amount of alcohol he’d consumed at Tommy’s behest.

The air was crisp and chased away the unpleasant fog the party’s atmosphere had left festering in his head and Noh decided that he would show Tommy just how much he appreciated his attitude and understanding towards him, so much so he recognized how uncomfortable and irritating the situation had been and let him escape it. It would have been even better if the speedster had accompanied him and shared in a few intimate hours rather than staying and inebriating himself, but the Kree could deal with that. He may be possessive and ever so slightly obsessive, but he was not clingy. He could be, wouldn’t mind making his word revolve around Tommy, but just as his lover recognized his disposition towards unknown situations, Noh understood Tommy’s need to feel free and young at least once in awhile.

The Kree made a stop at a late night store and got all the necessary ingredients to create a meal he’d remembered the recipe for, one that had Tommy praising him the last time he’d tried making it.

Walking home with the bags safely in his grasp, he started humming to himself, humans made such wonderful things as music and he’d really started to appreciate the finer things in life, much to Tommy’s annoyance when he became obsessed with a song for a week and proceeded to hear it non-stop.

The flat was welcoming, even without Tommy’s presence. It was the center, it was their home together and the speedster’s scent lingered everywhere, enough to comfort the Kree in lieu of Tommy’s absence.

With the recipe in mind and the song stuck in his head playing loudly through the small apartment, Noh started cooking, smiling to himself as he imagined Tommy’s pleasure and surprise when he came home to a warm apartment, his favourite meal and Noh’s eagerly awaiting presence.

Tommy would come home that night, but not as Noh-Varr anticipated. 

Just as his meal might have been set to be devoured by mutant and Kree alike, the phone Tommy had purchased Noh-Varr (a primitive one, the kind old people struggled with; Noh wasn’t prepared for a touchscreen) chimed, set to the tune specifically chosen to tell the alien it was Tommy’s phone contacting his.

Though instead of Tommy’s voice on the other end saying he was coming home, or he missed him, it was Anthony’s, hard and demanding.

“It’s me. You need to come back to the party. Quickly. Something happened with Tommy.”

Noh-Varr wanted to lash out the second his pleasant mood was vanquished by that voice, but the words seeped in faster than his rage could respond. He didn’t say one word to Anthony, didn’t even care for any specifications. Too harshly did his protective instinct drive him as he took the window instead of the stairs, racing back the way he’d taken so leisurely only a couple of hours before. He was an idiot.

He was a damn fool! He should never have left Tommy in such a precarious situation and even though his conscience told him that Tommy was capable of taking care of himself, this was on his shoulders. He left his hala alone with a group of strangers and now something had happened to him.

Noh-Varr made it back to the party which was, to normal humans, more than an hour away, in twenty minutes. If the door hadn’t been open, he would have exploded right through it, but as it were he only began throwing people aside and searching for Tommy.

“Where is he?!” he bellowed, forgetting his English and switching to Kree.

Anthony was waiting at the doorway, arms crossed the sole manifestation of his anxiety while party goers trickled in and out, huddled on the yard, squeezed through the door. All the while the music purred through the walls of the house.

He saw Noh stampeding in, practically throwing people aside and speaking in some language he hadn’t heard of. He jogged up to him, letting the rage set on him.

“Keep it down or you’ll cause him more problems,” he hissed. Without skipping a beat, he jerked his hand for Noh-Varr to follow. “Listen before you tear the place apart. I didn’t call the cops. I mean, if he wants, okay, but he’d be in a lot of trouble drinking. He could get expelled for it,” he went on to explain as he mounted the steps. “I left him to rest off the alcohol. Being what he is, it usually wears off a lot faster than for most people.”

He stopped at the door where Tommy was in, meeting the Kree’s gaze. “You’re not going to like this part at all. I came back and some guy was on him. He ran off when I burst in, jumped out the fucking window and ran off like he hadn’t even sprained an ankle. I…didn’t know what to do but call you. He’s still not very lucid.”

That was all he offered before opening the door, stepping aside to expose the speedster on the bed. Sheets were rumpled, pillows and items from a dresser knocked over, and Tommy’s naked lower half was hidden beneath the bulk of blankets, the shirt he wore stretched and a tear running through. His back faced him, expanding with shaky breaths as if he’d forgotten how to breathe.

If Noh had any set of powers that could cause an explosion, he would have lost control at the sight of Tommy in the bed like that and the full meaning of Anthony’s words in his ear. A hand grabbed Anthony’s shirt, Noh’s voice seething and low and promising the Earth an apocalypse to come.

“Get out of here and find out if anyone knows that bastard. And if you don’t find him I will personally hold you responsible for this. And that is a promise I will not back down from.” He shoved the human out violently, pulling the door shut despite his rampant urge to slam it. But his hala was more important than his rage right now.

Noh-Varr padded over to the bed, he didn’t get on, kept his eyes off all the signs that someone had touched his beloved, that someone had dared to do that for which he would murder them for.

“Tom-My? Are you conscious? Tom-My, I am here, hala look at me,” he was kneeling by the side of the bed, pleading for a response, unable to deal with the hurricane of emotion shredding his chest.

Tommy could hear him as well as one could hear an echo bouncing around a cage. He didn’t quite know where Noh-Varr was, but he heard him, and that was enough.

“Noh,” he said, the bewilderment that the alien was already here not quite reaching his rasp of a voice. He forced his eyes opened, having screwed them tightly as if that could make all his foolishness disappear.

It was a struggle, but he opened them and found Noh-Varr’s face. Relief flooded through him and he cracked a smile. Tried to anyway, but something kept his muscles full of rocks.

“Something in the,” he bit his tongue, waking it up and tried again. “Think something. My drink. Did…how did you get here?” Dread sobered him up enough to cling to the blanket. “Nothing really happened,” he forced out.

“Tom-My,” Noh-Varr surged forward, the speedster in his grasp and against his chest as the Kree situated himself on the bed, though the blankets still pooled high enough to cover Tommy’s nudity. The Kree couldn’t quite stop brimming with anger, but for now, the concern for his lover took priority over everything else.

“Hala forgive me, I should not have left you, are you harmed?”

Time might have stopped, or might have fast-forwarded. Everything was a haze around the edges, and as far as Tommy’s mind could decide, Noh-Varr as the center of the universe as he sank into his arms.

That was until his waning incoherency thinned, and he could pick out bits of things that had happened, some that had him burn furiously with rage, at himself for his uselessness, and then it all went numb as a defense mechanism switched it on, just as it always could in the past.

“No, he didn’t…it wasn’t like that, he didn’t…do that,” he said, and shook his head hard as he regained the tickling sensation of feeling again. He managed to push away so he could sit up with the air of Noh-Varr’s arm. “I’m…okay.” He looked down at his arms, saw the nasty purple color on them. His eyes travelled up, spotted some dried crusts of blood.

“I bit the asshole.” Tommy put a hand to his head, either to quell the memories or coming headache, he didn’t want to think over. “I…don’t think I know who he was. I feel…fuck, I’m dizzy.”

He dared to peek under the blankets, counted a couple of more bruises. “I’m okay,” he decided, more for Noh than himself. The Kree was about to explode. “I’m…I think I remember,” he rummaged around his thoughts, “I might have screamed. Or maybe he did when I bit his mouth. Anthony was then there. I don’t know where the guy went.”

“I’m okay,” he repeated, but his shoulders rocked, but more as a side effect of the adrenaline rush Tommy was sure he was hit with as the drug, whatever it was, too quickly metabolized thanks to his body. “I’m…always okay. Just fine.”

And if he was breathing hard, trembling on the inside by how helpless he had been for those few, terrifying minutes, that was his own business.

Tommy’s assessment was right, Noh-Varr was just about ready to explode and murder everyone at the party who had let this happen to his beloved. The bruises and blood did absolutely nothing to persuade him that Tommy was okay. Someone had touched him, hurt him, tried to take what was only Tommy’s to give and Noh’s to receive and it just about burned through every barrier of self-control the Kree had. It set too much in motion, triggered too many responses Noh had deep down about what people did to one another, about what someone was willing to do to his world.

“I will find him and kill him,” he whispered, danger betraying the calm tone of his voice as he ran his hands over Tommy’s sides in soothing motions, tried to convey his failure to his lover and his deep regret for it. He wanted to enfold Tommy into his embrace and never let the light of the world touch him again, never allow someone else to even lay eyes on his beloved speedster as long as the Kree lived.

“Never will I leave your side again, hala.”

There wasn’t much that could be said, and nothing that Tommy wanted to volunteer, not when there was Noh-Varr and his voice and his hands. That part of Tommy that was regaining lucidity wondered how he ever functioned such trauma in the past without the strength of his Kree by his side.

After the adrenaline plummeted, Tommy was left in a loopy state. Reckless as he was, he tried shoving Noh-Varr away, slurring his words as he insisted he could stand. Whatever orchestration Tommy use to have on his legs, a speedster’s prize, went out from under him, literally. Then there was Noh-Varr scooping him up, cradling him so protectively that Tommy believed there was nothing that could harm him.

So, he buried his face deeper into the darkness of his alien’s chest, and slept.

*

In the kind of part of town that was beyond downtown, a wasteland befitting all types of criminals, Anthony waited. The warehouse most of the business was done was not unlike the other edifices smearing the area with their crooked foundations or gouged windows. They all looked the same, which was good, since they liked to bounce around.

Any decent person crawling in the underbelly of a city knew mobility was vital to staying out of the big house. Or worse.

The table he sat at was a table in the most diluted sense of the word. There were legs, two bent, one nonexistent, and one left to juggle the responsibility of the other three. Still, it got the job done if it was still bearing Anthony’s arms and those of his buddies, along with the cards splayed out.

Anthony hated card games, and only played them to humor one of the older guys he liked to keep on his good side. He hated being stood up even more, especially at a hangout that was made to look like some goddamn secret hideout, which it really wasn’t.

“I thought he was supposed to come back here,” the old guy across from him grunted.

Anthony glanced at the time on his phone. Three hours since Tommy was taken back by that Noh guy who posed a moderate threat for the time being.

“Maybe the popo caught him,” said another guy, the youngest.

Anthony didn’t offer a reply, staring at his cards instead with a lax face. Inside though, he bubbled with fury at how late the useless moron was.

Speak of the devil, a figure hunkered passed a window, knocked on what passed as doors, then guided in by one of the younger guys that had been counting dope at a table. Anthony internally sighed. The idiot no doubt lost count and would have to do it from the start again.

Useless walked toward the table, working a cigarette to life between his lips, the lower marred with dried blood.

Anthony palmed his cards onto the table, face down.

“The fuck is this place,” Useless said after taking a long drag. “Thought you said up north.”

“I said south,” Anthony said.

“Huh.” Useless seemed to remember his earlier irritation and narrowed an eye at Anthony. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have hadta remember the fuck where it was at if I weren’t fuckin’ runnin’ around like my life depended on it.”

Anthony shrugged.

“Don’t shrug at me,” Useless went on, voice booming. “You said I wasta get somethin’ good for all the trouble I went through ta get you the good stuff.”

“You were screaming like a girl.”

“He bit me!”

Anthony leaned back in his seat. “I thought he was besting you. I had to check.”

“You said he was out cold.”

“I told you he was a mutant. You were the one that spiked the drink, not me.”

Useless looked up, as if searching for the key to the puzzle that was occurring in his compressed brain. “I just put in one.”

Anthony snorted, smiling. “One is what people usually slip.”

“Yeah, if ya want a corpse for a whole fuckin’ night! I thought he would be just little knocked out. Didn’t want him all limp and dead lookin’. I ain’t no neecrah…uh-“

“Necrophiliac?”

“That thing.”

“That’s not my problem,” Anthony said, knowing full well it would be his problem if he didn’t handle it. He didn’t doubt Noh’s words, and, well, Useless was living up to his name. Loose ends best be tied quickly.

“The hell it ain’t. You owe me. I did all dat fuckin’ work—“

Useless ranted, punctuating a few remarks by telling some of the other guys to shut the fuck up if they interrupted. Anthony though, his eyes crested over Useless’ buzz cut, eyes staring at no particular spot, no expression gracing his face.

After a moment, Useless must have caught up to his lack of attention and seized his arm.

“You ignorin’ me now?” He was all raspy now, voice gone dry from all the shouting. The smoking couldn’t have been helping either.

Anthony frowned and kicked under his ankle, knocking Useless onto his backside. As two of his buddies stepped on various limbs to keep the spewing Useless still enough, Anthony stood up and brushed off the spot he’d been touched.

“Alright, alright,” he said, looking down at the man. He must have been in his early 30s, and probably loathed having someone as young as Anthony towering over him, not even humoring him with a smile. But for Anthony, smiles were just another utility, as much as the one he was looking over with an uninterested expression.

“I got something planned for you,” he went on, and that shut Useless up.

Useless licked his lips. “Yeah? Better be damn good.”

“It is.” Anthony flicked his eyes up to the ceiling. “Depending on who you ask.”

He forgot Useless for a moment as he contemplated, half of it in his imagination, wondering and pondering over things no one would really get. He looked back down when he heard Useless thrashing.

“Let me up! You ain’t the fucking boss of anyone here. You ain’t no bigshot.”

At that, Anthony crouched, almost eye-level with Useless. He held the man’s gaze, not speaking just yet, merely pouring his fixation on the details of Useless face, of the family he had, which was typical of many kids who go off on a tangent of the expected life journey. Drunk father, abusive, a little brother still alive that Useless adored, a girlfriend who peeled out of her clothes for a living.

All of the history categorized itself in Anthony’s mind, and Useless might have sensed it, since the man went to the end of the spectrum of behavior, still and stiff.

After a while, Anthony stood and replied, “I’ll give that girl of yours a good cover story.”

Useless blanched.

Anthony smiled; it was as genuine as a shark’s.

*

Tommy awoke feeling incredibly warm, as if he’d been stuffed into flour and had been baked in soft bread. A few groans, part of a stretch, and blinking open eyes informed him the source was Noh-Varr, arms around Tommy, and eyes very awake, very alert.

“Sheesh,” Tommy moaned, taken aback by the vibrancy of his gaze. He rubbed his own eyes, having to bully Noh-Varr a bit so he could sit up and scrub more at his face. “Ugh. My head.”

It was a dull ache at worst, but Tommy liked functioning at a level where there were no aches to impede his running. Then, his spine went taught, seized by the cold hand of memories. His head swam with the information and he was grateful he had not been trying to stand up.

He bypassed the fear and rage from the attack. Was it an attack? Tommy was pretty sure. He hadn’t come onto anyone, and Anthony had been the last thing he remembered, guiding him gently to rest. The guy had been blonde. Or maybe had too short hair to tell exactly. Smelled of smoke.

Didn’t matter. Tommy was never helpless and the guy had gotten spooked. The why though, that had Tommy staring at the bruising on his wrists, almost gone by now as a product of his quick healing. Guys didn’t just go after other guys like that, not in Tommy’s experience. There was no way he mistook Tommy for a girl, but maybe he was a desperate sap who was wanting to stick it in hole?

No. That didn’t sit well with Tommy at all, made little sense. In the end, he scrubbed his face again and cried out, frustrated, and punched his pillow, which only thoomped the blow.

Tommy looked at Noh-Varr, reliving his words, his concern. Right. Focus on Noh. That would put all the folders in his mind back in order.

“Hey,” he said, scooting closer and extending his hand to smooth over the tension in Noh-Varr’s face. He saw the way Noh looked at the bruise on his wrist. “No.” He grasped the Kree’s chin firmly. “I know. I know you’re mad, but I wasn’t helpless. I,” he hesitated, damn himself, “I shouldn’t have had too much to drink, but it was not your fault. You can’t always be there and I’m not weak. The guy ran off. I’m fine.”

There was no way he was calling the cops though and risk expulsion, and anyway, what good did cops do him ever in the past? He was a superhero. They weren’t victims. They went after the bad guys. At least, that’s what Tommy repeated in his mind. The alternative had him feeling dizzy.

“I’m okay, really,” he assured Noh, then sought his hand to squeeze. “But…I’m glad you were there when you did show up. I was feeling kind of sick to my stomach as it was, but I mean it when I say I feel a lot better.”

Of course he did. Whatever nerves were frayed, whatever memories from years ago churned up all were forced back into their cages, because that’s what was done with the internal distress of Tommy Shepherd. 

He wasn’t okay. He was so far from okay, it was ridiculous to even consider thinking Noh would believe his assurance. Tommy had slept for hours, it was already late afternoon of saturday and Noh-Varr had not shut an eye, had not slept for even five minutes, arms adjusting to the sleeping body in their grasp, the Kree’s rage stagnating itself and seeping back into his core with his lover’s tender breaths in his ears to calm him. 

When Tommy awoke, Noh wanted to ease into the day, spoil his hala so much he’d forget how horrible a night it had been, maybe then Tommy would tell him who had hurt him and Noh would not immediately leave to commit a necessary murder. But he would definitely set himself such a task, because the human who’d dared to touch his Tommy was dead to the world.

So Noh was taken a little aback by his lover’s firm voice and apparent state of mind, the dominance over his own fear impressing the Kree somewhat. At least enough for him not to launch into a tirade of Tommy’s misplaced faith in humankind.

“You are not okay. This action demands for blood and I will have it. But right now, I am more concerned with remaining at your side. I will tend to your injuries...are you hungry? Do you still feel nauseous? I could consult a medical professional.”

Noh-Varr seemed barely capable of not tearing away, catapulting through a wall, and seeking that blood he claimed was retribution. Tommy felt it in the way the Kree held him, however gentle he was, in his eyes, his voice.

“Noh, you have to promise me something.” He didn’t let go of Noh-Varr’s chin, nor did he confirm nor deny he was okay or not okay. In its own quirky way, Tommy’s concern over Noh-Varr trumped his own, making it that much easier to shove those cages deep into the corners of his mind.

“You can’t kill,” he said. “I know you’ll want to sometimes and in your eyes it’s okay, but not here. You can only kill if it’s a last resort, self-defense, not because you went after someone. Promise me you won’t go after him, Noh. He’s probably long gone and the kind that will end up back in prison soon anyway.”

“Prison is not enough for that lowlife,” Noh-Varr complained, unhappy to have his natural right for vengeance squashed by Tommy’s humanity. Were there not entire epics in human history, based on one man’s need for revenge? But he would bow to Tommy’s will, he already sensed his own submission and he didn’t know whether or not that was a deficiency in his being.

“I will not leave your side again. Unless humanity changes in its entirety for the better, which is unlikely.”

Tommy’s lips twitched, just a bit, at Noh’s devotion. What would have been a smile faltered at the severity of the situation, one Tommy didn’t plan to acknowledge.

“No literally, I hope,” he said. “You can’t follow me everywhere. That’s not healthy.”

He brushed the backs of his fingertips over the area he had been gripping, then pushed off the bed. A typical day following a sex-less night, Tommy would zip in and out of the shower, bathed, brushed up, and set to tackle all forces the day tossed at him--hopefully one of them being Noh-Varr’s cuddly moods, though that fact was something Tommy reserved for his own dignity.

This morning, Tommy felt his limbs on the verge of betraying his grace, so he carefully swung his legs around, tested their endurance, and then got up. There was plenty to be considered, to contemplate, but right now a hot, hot, hot shower was in dire order.

“Going to take a bath,” he said, heading toward the bathroom. At the least, Noh had stripped him off the shirt that was stiff with another man’s blood, and kept Tommy warm with his own body heat.

There was a yawning, terrible distance between them right this moment, or at least, that’s how Noh-Varr would describe the void opening up in his chest. He did, for all intent and purpose, mean literally, because he no longer trusted the rest of the world with Tommy. And especially not when he was not around to control every interaction anyone made with his lover.

Noh sighed in acknowledgement of Tommy’s disappearance, then changed his clothing, not to any more casual, human fabrics, he was pretty sick of them. He didn’t exactly have a plethora of uniforms but he felt most at home in it and had made the most rudimentary repairs to it himself. 

It didn’t help him feel any better as he listened for the faucets in the bathroom to be turned, then walked into the living room to demolish the evidence of the preparations he had made last night. 

He cleared away the plates and everything else he’d set out to the kitchen counter, taking the food and throwing into a pot, blended together as one, cold breakfast of failure with which the Kree took a seat on the couch with as he turned on the TV.

Tommy took the longest shower in his life, but justified it by telling himself he deserved it. Not for what had happened, or not happened, last night. He just liked to indulge in hot water after outwitting a hangover. As lucid as he was, hot water still worked wonders on his muscles.

If he scrubbed a little harder with the soap, or pressed his forehead hard against the warming tiles, he wouldn’t say anything of it. Eventually he did submit to leaving the tub, considering if in the future one could forever live under the comfort only a hot shower could supply.

He brushed and washed in the sink, changed into sweats and a shirt, and finally traversed the precarious land that was the living room, or rather, any room Noh-Varr already was in.

Tommy glanced over his head, spotting the kitchen. He was hungry. Gasping for it really, but something beyond himself, a force he probably could never catch, had him snatched by Noh’s gravitational pull. Before he processed it, Tommy was sinking into the couch beside him, arms around the Kree’s waist, head on his chest.

Noh-Varr made no move to be irritated by his presence, of course he wasn’t, but Tommy’s words would not leave his mind. Would the human scold his protective instincts? Even forbid him from acting upon them? That was most unagreeable with him and he was starting to see a clearer picture of how their relationship had just taken a complicated turn.

At least Tommy still expressed a need to be close to him.

Noh-Varr lifted the fork, ladden with a mixture of mashed potatoes, pieces of roast chicken and corn, bathed in a greasy gravy that had seen too much butter and too few warnings about premature heart attacks.

The Kree offered the cold remnants of the dinner he’d made the night before to his lover.

“It would have been much tastier when it was freshly made.”

Tommy stared at the meal, stomach and mind summersaulting at the image of Noh-Varr preparing this heart-attack on a plate for him, maybe humming, head bobbing a little to a beat only he heard and appreciated, smiling at the prospect of having a night in with him of all people.

“Noh.” He straightened, took the plate, and smirked. He took a bite, and hell it was cold, but he swallowed what indeed would have been a nice meal before he set the plate down on the coffee table again.

With an exhale, Tommy too acknowledged the shift in their relationship, felt the strain that would have many others breaking apart. He turned on the couch to face Noh, dipped his hands into Noh’s large ones. For no more than a minute, he watched those bright eyes and grappled with himself.

“I’m in some serious need of fresh air. Before that,” he looked down at their hands. “I said something last night to Anthony. I didn’t realize it at the time, being...well, maybe drunk, maybe sedated.” It was harder to lift his eyes so he kept them on their hands, gave a squeeze. “Told him that I loved you.”

He didn’t know whether the fresh air was to be a good or bad sign, but it did calm him to feel Tommy’s touch. Even if there was a light shake to it that had nothing to do with comfort or pleasure. It buried its way into Noh’s heart at the same time as Tommy’s offered confession. Or at least, half-confession, because telling someone else about his feelings for Noh was not the same as telling them straight to the Kree’s face.

“And were you lying? Is that why you are nervous?” He tried not to sound too cold, but it was difficult right now. Because Tommy, despite how close he was and the fact he was holding his hands, felt light-years away, locked into a world Noh-Varr couldn’t follow him to and it was crippling the Kree.

Tommy remained silent for a moment, less so wrestling with his admission to Anthony and more with that little Tommy that had to be protected, kept safe, away from bad memories and the ill deeds he had done.

Feeling Noh-Varr’s warm hands and hearing the clip toned to his words, Tommy made his decision by looking at the Kree in the eye, his own expression daring Noh to challenge what he had to say next, with no smartass tune, no sarcasm, no tease of a smirk.

“I love you.”

The weight of his words might have crushed a lesser being, but Noh-Varr wasn’t aware of how uneasy those words came to the human tongue, especially if said tongue belonged to one Tommy Shepherd. He’d claimed those words the minute his mind logically provided them in attachment to a core of emotions he recognized as such.

But Tommy’s admittance did build him a bridge across the gap, at least for now, and he could do nothing but soften his expression into a smile, one that spoke epics of his gratitude and reciprocation of exactly those words.

“You have kept me waiting a long time to hear you say those words.”

“It takes a lot to say around here,” Tommy said, daring to scoot closer so he was back on Noh-Varr’s chest, finding peace in his heartbeat. “I didn’t mean to sound angry with you. I wasn’t. I’m not, I mean. Just...the thought of being followed everywhere makes me nervous. I like my independence, but just don’t,” jesus, Noh had a way of making speech difficult “you know, think I don’t get where you’re coming from.”

His fingers scratched along the Kree’s arm, soothing Tommy enough that he could take deep breaths and settle deeper against Noh-Varr.

“Hey, listen, why--”

His words trailed off, swallowed by an unfamiliar tune of Noh-Varr’s phone perched on the counter.

The tone irritated Noh beyond belief. If Tommy had not insisted on the small device being of some importance to him and their communication, he would have crushed it in his fist right now.

And who the hell would even call him, never mind the interruption to this tender moment? Noh-Varr only had one contact listed in his phonebook, and said contact was cradled against him right now, blanketed and protected by his arms with Noh having half a mind to never let him go again, no matter how independent he thought he needed to be.

With the most harassed of sighs, Noh-Varr reached over and picked up the phone.

“Who is this?” he snarled into the device.

“It’s me,” Anthony said. “Before you hang up, I have him. Well, found him. The guy from the party. He doesn’t even go to our university. I didn’t think if I told Tommy he would be willing to tell you, and between you and me, prison isn’t going to change him. I’d be willing to tell you where you can find him.”

Tommy watched Noh’s face, smiling slightly and fingers tickling up the alien’s neck to remind him what was more appealing than a phone call. Still, he couldn’t help his curiosity and asked, “Who is it? Telemarketer?”

Noh-Varr schooled his expression into nonchalance, both Tommy’s words from before and Anthony’s message now ringing in his ears. Tommy would never....allow this. But Noh-Varr still thirsted for that man’s blood and he would take it, by his hala’s honour he would taste it.

With one hand, he caressed Tommy’s hair, stroked over his scalp and gently played with the strands, assuring his lover he’d be his in just a moment.

“I might be interested. I will call you...at a later time.” He hung up without hearing Anthony’s confirmation and kissed the tip of Tommy’s nose.

“Nothing important. Just someone from the library...ah, switching shifts.” the lie had come without contemplation, the only reason anyone would call Noh-Varr the only plausible excuse.

“Oh.” Tommy grunted and resumed becoming Noh-Varr’s blanket. “I hope they don’t put you on the late shift tonight. If you are, it’s fine. I could go for a run.”

As Noh’s hands massaged his scalp, Tommy lowered his eyelids.

“I don’t say this much,” he began quietly, “but...thanks. I’m...I’m really glad you’re here, Noh-Varr. I don’t know...what’d I do if you weren’t around. I think you keep me sane now.”

He chuckled, but even that sound didn’t undermine how true his statement was. Curling up, he decided fresh air could wait, as long as he got lung-fulls of Noh’s scent and the beat of his heart against Tommy’s ear.


	9. Chapter 9

When Anthony’s phone vibrated, he tensed, alert to who it must have been. A glance at the caller ID confirmed it. There was little fear in his body, having it clipped early in his childhood, or maybe he never really had it to begin with. That didn’t make him reckless though, and he treaded carefully around this Noh guy, who could just as easily be a mutant.

“Yeah,” Anthony answered into the phone. “I got his address for you. From what some of his buddies told me, he’s there after 9 at night, after doing some drug running stuff.” 

He supplied the address before adding, “Whatever you do, it’s not up to me to stop you, but don’t be stupid enough to get caught. You know, DNA and all that, and he has neighbors. If he screams, well...you do what you gotta do.”

Then he hung up, knowing Noh wouldn’t humor him with a response, or even a thanks.

Noh-Varr was hard-pressed to dislodge his human blanket, but eventually, he peeled himself from beneath Tommy, taking at least ten minutes longer than usual to prepare and leave for his shift. He was grateful the speedster said nothing about Noh’s uniform, which he’d kept on underneath the shirt, hoodie and jeans he’d thrown on for his supposed ‘late shift’. 

He didn’t feel good lying to Tommy, especially not about his whereabouts and actions, but this was something that needed to be done, with or without the speedster’s consent. 

Noh-Varr took off into the night, scouting before he went to track down the exact address. And found a man there, in a shabby apartment. A brute, blond, almost bald his hair was so short and fear on his face. The paranoid delusions of a drug addict and dealer? Or perhaps the sober fears of a man who knew his death was at hand?

The Kree made no secret of his approach, he took the side of the building, crashing through the window with the fury of the gods fuelling him forward.

“You. I am going to enjoy killing you. For every second you touched him, I will make you suffer.”

Eddie had known it was coming, was told in morbid detail what would await him any day now, and skipping town was not an alternative. Drugs had helped, though he was stealing from the stash meant for dealing, but who the hell was he to care when he knew what was to come?

All he could do was prepare. Then, it happened, and still his heart went crazy, already disrupted by whatever he’d snorted not long ago. The guy was huge, looking more fantasy than reality. He had not seen Noh at the party, having arrived past his arrival and had rumors to substantiate the picture he had of the man.

The rumors did no justice. 

Eddie heard the crash and was already whipping out his gun, a common, street-type one that was more threatening to a human than the guy. Of course, Eddie had no inkling that the man was anything but, even if he was brimming with a rage even Eddie had never seen on the bad ends of the streets.

“S-Stay back!” He aimed the gun to the guy’s chest. “I know what you want and I’m not letting you fucking near me!” And because yelling often boasted the confidence of the weak, he threw out, “I didn’t even get that far with him! Goddamn bastard wouldn’t sit still and he bit me! So get the fuck out or I’ll shoot you, I swear I will!”

“Try it,” Noh-Varr growled, feeling his spine bristle and his fingers itching to feel blood run over them. Whatever rage he held towards human kind, this man would feel the combined force of it tonight. Maybe even for hours, depending on how attentive the neighbours here were.

Knowing that even at an incredibly short range, he had the speed to dodge in case the guy did have the balls to pull the trigger, the Kree stood, rage fuelling every step and breath and maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see this guy more terrified than he already was.

“Try and shoot me and I will make you wish your species had never left the fucking trees you came from!”

Eddie stumbled back, fear radiating through his limbs, giving him the grace of a newborn fawn. Were he not pumping illicit drugs through his veins and fried clusters of neurotransmitters any given week, he might have picked up on the species reference.

As it was, all he saw was a mass of bad news and, eyes wide, he fired all the rounds sloppily at Noh.

The Kree had absolutely no trouble dodging the sloppy shots, patiently waiting for the human to spend his rounds as if he were tending to a shooting booth at a carnevale. Not that he’d ever been to one, but he saw some on TV and understood the underlying theme and purpose.

This idiot wasn’t going to just piss himself in fear though, he was going to get his nose rubbed all over the mess he’d made when Noh took his gun and crushed it in his hand.

“You won’t need this,” he tossed the ball of metal out of the broken window with ease, then turned to tug the man to his feet, hands digging into his throat as he pulled and pulled.

“You touched what is mine. Do you understand why I have to kill you?”

Eddie, however out of his mind he might have been at that moment, knew what the lump of metal meant. If possible, his eyes bulged, nearly rolling out of their sockets, and he thrashed and flailed with the directionless energy a dying man had.

What words he could squeeze out were strained, barely above rasps. “Fuck, man, I didn’t know he was someone’s. Just wanted a little bit, I didn’t know.” And then the begging, the pleading for his life to be spared, every bribe conceivable that a drug-peddler could make, even swearing servitude it that’s what it meant to stay alive another day.

The Kree was deaf to it all, deaf to the pleas, the excuses and especially the bribes. He took great delight in carrying the man out of the window, squeezing his jaw shut to keep him quiet as he took him up to the roof. This was just a little more private. Not that he let go of the scum just yet though.

With a sick little whimper of a crack, the human’s jaw gave in beneath the relentless pressure of the Kree’s grip, but Noh was far from finished still.

“So, you wouldn’t have touched him if you knew he was with someone?” he dropped Eddie to the ground, splayed him out like a fish out of water and placed his foot on the man’s chest to keep him down,

“You would have just raped someone else, is that it?!”

Eddie felt like he was drowning in the ocean, every pitch of the wave a new kind of pain or discomfort as he was hauled up the roof, dropped to the cold ground with agony stabbing along his jaw and down his throat.

Pain, instead of encouraging his earlier pathetic state, had him reeling with nonsensical thoughts.

Through a cracked jaw, he managed to spew out, “I would have made him enjoy it.”

 

There was rage and there was fury, but what shot through Noh-Varr now was stone-cold hatred. Whatever remorse he might have in some bone of his body ran dry at that moment as he put his foot through the man’s chest and then gave his mangled, dying body a mighty kick that had him flying over the edge of the roof, his life ended in an almighty splat followed by the scream of whoever had the misfortune of passing by.

*

The lack of Noh’s presence was felt like a hole in Tommy’s chest, one he tried to patch up with antiquated assurances that had worked on the old Tommy, and now just left the present one ill to his stomach and heavy in mind. Even fresh air and a run was out of reach for him, a muted part of him too nervous to step beyond the safety of his home with Noh.

So he ate a lot, stretched around in the home, stared at the dotted city of lights. Anthony called him at one point, and Tommy was eager for the respite. If nothing else, Anthony had proven himself a tad better in Tommy’s eyes, status elevated by having called Noh for him that night and not the cops.

The call ended with a bittersweet air following it. They had agreed to meet up in a few days, just to smooth over some of the tension. Tommy figured he could supply some cordiality after what Anthony had done for him. 

Then, there was just the television keeping Tommy company. Normally he couldn’t stand it without Noh watching it with him. It was testament to how bad of shape his mind still was in that he sought out dramas and comedies and whatever the hell was on at this hour.

Yawning, Tommy raised the control, ready to flip the comedy to something more action-packed, when the news station clipped it short on his behalf. Superhero senses alerted him to pay attention at the breaking news.

Dead man. Fell off roof. Rumored gaping hole in chest, as if crushed by a foot. Victim identified as--

Tommy inhaled sharply and felt so cold he must have shivered. It couldn’t be. He stared. It was him. Tommy wasn’t stupid. He remembered who it was, if only because his mind had stored the data for later use.

But then that could only imply--

Tommy pressed a hand to his forehead, barring away a headache and the awful feelings swarming at the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t wait. He wasn’t a person to wait. Never. 

Snatching his phone, he angrily punched the speed dial to Noh’s number, silently hoping and not hoping his boyfriend would answer.

Noh-Varr was long gone from the scene of his crime, having taken care to rid himself of blood-covered clothing and the bits of Eddie that clung to his leg like some awful, stinking reminder of his unrestrained thirst for revenge.

He didn’t feel bad for taking his life. He’d deserved it. That scumbag would have raped Tommy and he would have gotten to countless others. Really, he’d been a hero, taken out the trash before it could spread and fester in the lives of others. 

Though he still had to wait out the hours of his supposed shift before returning home, or Tommy would garner suspicions Noh didn’t wish to deal with right now. Not after his boyfriend had specifically told him not to touch the scum.

His phone was ringing. He glanced down at the small device after having fiddled it from a pocket and his heart plummeted slightly at the sight of his hala’s name on the caller ID. Why was he calling him now? 

Noh-Varr got off of the roofs into an alley, hoping it would dampen the sound of rushing wind and general outdoors before he picked up the call.

“Tom-My? Are you alright?”

Tommy wanted nothing more than to bathe himself in that voice, tell Noh to just come home and hold him. The news were flashing before his eyes still though, police tape barricading the view of what he had no doubt Noh was responsible for. The Kree had put that tape there, had traumatized that woman walking her dog when the body crumbled to the floor.

“You fucker!” His insult was hardly sharp, his voice cracked as he tried to shout. “Why did you do it? I told you not to touch him! I told you not to kill! You killed him! It’s all over the damn news and you did it! Why, after everything I said, why?”

He knew why though, and nothing Noh could supply as an answer would remedy all the other things swirling in his mind. 

“Get the fuck home right now or I might not be here when you do decide to get back!”

The sharp tone and words had Noh-Varr speechless for a breath. How could Tommy know already?! And how could he be certain that it was Noh who had murdered in cold blood, had taken his more than adequate revenge? 

“I do not know what you are talking about, please calm down, hala,” he’d already gotten himself into this by lying once, and now he would have to walk this path, bitter consequences included.  
He wanted to run home right now, but that would just prove his guilt, would it not? It wasn’t guilt for taking a life. It was purely the fact he had to lie to Tommy, couldn’t trust him with the truth because the speedster would hate him for ignoring his words.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Humans wanted to be heroes, wanted to punish those that did wrong. And yet they had not the gall to take lives. Well, he did. And if a little Kree efficiency was needed to clean Earth up...he was ready.

Tommy leapt to his feet at the lie and he was screaming near the top of his lungs, if he had been able to manage it. His voice was all rough and strained, as though he was parched for water. All his fury and distress was draining him dry.

“Don’t you fucking lie to me! You already went behind my back and murdered someone. I won’t be a fucking fool, Noh, I won’t! Be home in five minutes, or I swear it, I’m not going to be here at all. I mean it! If you think you can treat me like the fucking idiot you think I am, like some...some damn damsel who needs someone else to do the tough work, then fuck you and you’re fucking priorities because that’s not how this is supposed to work between us!”

He let the tirade wash over him, feeling the chill of the night set into his body. There was no way he was going to go home and face that fury. Tommy was beyond rationality right now and it would serve them no betterment if he had the chance to scream at Noh’s face instead of a phone.

A cold dread that had nothing to do with the temperature set into him, and he could do nothing to shield himself from it. So this was how Tommy was going to treat his impulses, was it? This was how Tommy adjusted him into humanity. As his lapdog, leaping up for treats and praise for fitting in. Something defiant was churning in Noh-Varr, something raw and rageful and rigid. Humans were all the same. Even the one he loved would not attempt to understand his sense of honour, his sense of retribution.

“Do as you must, Tom-My. I will be back, whether you are there or not.”

Tommy’s mouth hung open, all his rage and pain unable to be voiced at what Noh said, had the audacity to say. He hardly recognized the phone in his quivering grip as all his emotions bubbled right under his skin, no where to go.

His eyes stayed on the television, blankly absorbing what little information the cops had on the murder. As quick as the spike of his malaise had struck, Tommy was suddenly fatigued, drooping to lean against the couch on the floor.

This wasn’t how things should be, but it was. Tommy wondered where he had forgotten the part that life didn’t treat him especially well.

After a moment of nothing but his heavy breathing, he lowered his forehead to his drawn up knees, eyes screwed shut and burning harder than he ever remembered in his life.

“Please come home,” he whispered.

The phone clicked, Noh-Varr had not graced him with an answer. He would make his way home immediately, but he would do nothing to hide the rage and pain in his heart. As if his devotion to his lover had been thrown back at him with nothing but poisoned daggers and the frayed edges of betrayal. It weighed heavy on his shoulders and he took to the streets, walking with an air of a true murderer that had people cross to the other side of street rather than walk past him. It was well over an hour later that he turned the key in the door and opened his home, which held no notion of comfort to him right now. He braced himself for another tirade, told himself over and over that he had control, he would not harm Tommy, no matter what he said.

He was his hala and if he decided to leave the Kree after this night, Noh-Varr would not lift a finger to hurt him. He’d rather be vaporized than do so.

Tommy had not moved from his spot as a pitiful little lump, anchoring himself by keeping his head perched on his knees, not once feeling the urge to sprint off into the city as was typical for him. Even he understood the severity of those implications. Still, he could not find a grain of effort in him to do so.

The door clicked an eternity later, and his heart hammered, having been back to its regular beat of melancholy. Tommy lifted his head, panic and wariness lacing him thanks to honed skills. The panic ebbed, if just a little, at seeing it was indeed Noh.

There had been speeches half-formulated, some uglier than others.

In the end, Tommy pushed gradually to his feet, then bolted into Noh’s arms, squeezing him with all the energy he didn’t have.

Now, this wasn’t quite the reception he’d expected, for one there was no shouting, no accusation, not even a glare, just an armful of speedster that was attempting to punish him by squeezing him to death and having little effect.

Unsure what had caused this onset of emotion, Noh-Varr wrapped one, cautious arm around Tommy, really trying to imagine why on Earth he was suddenly clingy instead of mad.

“...You waited for me.”

“Fucking idiot,” Tommy said against his neck, not budging an iota. “I’ll always wait for you. And I hate that I would, I’m not use to that feeling.” If possible, he looped his arms even tighter around Noh’s neck. “Fucking idiot...you can’t just...kill people like that.”

With a shaky breath, he leaned back to study the Kree’s eyes. “But you’re not a superhero either,” he said softly, lips pressing tightly together for a moment. “Just..”

Another deep exhale and he took Noh’s hand, tugging. “Come with me? Outside. The ocean.” Hesitantly, he added, “Please?”

“I would follow you anywhere,” Noh-Varr took a gentle tone, unsettled by how unsteady his lover sounded despite the fierceness of his grip. His hand curled around Tommy’s reassured him that even if their time together might not always be perfect, he would never be the one to leave. And he truly wouldn’t.

He didn’t want to live anywhere without Tommy and he didn’t want the human’s disappointment, but there were some things his Kree code would simply not allow. Such as a mistreatment of his beloved, his everything, his world.

Tommy took that as a sign in his favor, at least for the moment, and cradled it close to his heart. Without words shared between them, he guided Noh out, locked the door, and walked a few paces before facing him.

“Run there,” he said, and a tiny smile graced his lips, his tone almost matching that of the tease he used the first time he dared to race Noh. 

Nostalgia was what he needed to keep his feet grounded, and after a final squeeze to Noh’s hand, dashed away, certain his scent would provide the trail for Noh to follow all the way to the shoreline where no one could disturb them.

It should have been obvious that Tommy’s nature had him dashing away on a run, with the challenge of a race hinted in his smile. This was what the speedster needed to feel better and if it would help, Noh would indulge. He gathered his senses, concentrated on the pleasant scent he loved so much. It would be easy to follow, with his entire being so filled with Tommy as of right now.

The run was tranquil to him, even at top pace he could not match his boyfriend, but he arrived an acceptable time after him, taking in the sight of the shore, the midnight-black sea that seemed to merge with the pitchblack sky.

Tommy had expected to arrive early, and settled himself deep into the moist sand where the tips of the waves rolled over his ankles as he sat and watched, and listened. The ocean was good for Tommy, served him well. While it terrified others, Tommy welcomed its perils and more than once traversed over her surface, a thrill tickling him when he saw the shadows of a massive creature undulating beneath his quick feet.

By the time Noh arrived, Tommy found a smudge of peace on his face, and he sucked in a few deep breaths a while longer.

“The ocean is one of the few places I really feel good at,” he told Noh, still watching the waves cresting, rolling, stretching toward them. He scooted, making a spot for Noh to sit as though the sand was all Tommy’s and the only available spot was beside him right there.

“I want our house by the ocean,” he said. “Maybe west coast. If that’s good with you.” He extended his legs, letting the water lick his bare calves; he stripped down to his boxers and shirt despite the cold.

It might have seemed like casual conversation to others, but not for Tommy. By admitting he wanted a home with Noh still spoke volumes, even if there was plenty more to be discussed sooner than later.

The way he said ‘our house’ spoke deeper to Noh-Varr than any love confession and he tucked the memory of this moment far into his heart, locked it up and kept it safe and close to him. He would have his home with this boy, he would live his life in service to Tommy’s love.

“I have never lived near an ocean...always aboard a ship or...” no, he shouldn’t mention his imprisonment now, this was neither the time or the moment to talk of such things.

But there was still conflict between them and Noh felt it eating away at the silence, though he was curious as to why he’d disrobed.

Tommy flexed his foot, playing with the waves, disturbing their trail up along his lower body.

“Noh,” he started, watching his toes, “I’m really pissed. I’m angry you did what you did, and then I realized I was angrier with myself. I want you to be able to live here, and I guess it’s easy to forget you’re not human. Your culture, how you grew up, isn’t like it is here, and,” he worked on his lower lip, “don’t think I’ve never thought of doing what you did. I use to be like that, thinking I could pick and choose who got the bad ends of punishment. Then I learned I wasn’t better than they were if I did that.”

The weight of his words were too much, so Tommy flopped onto his back, accepting the water reaching up to his thighs and hips by now. He’d let it go over his head by this point.

“I wish you hadn’t done it, I’m not going to lie, but...if I don’t want you treating me like an idiot and lying to me, I don’t...I shouldn’t treat you like you’re a dog I’m trying to train, that I spray water in its face when it did something bad. I’m not saying that I am okay with it exactly, I’m still angry, more because I’m terrified you’d get taken away or...I don’t know.” He knew he was on a ramble once again. “Tell me. Talk to me. I want to better...get it. I don’t want to be yelling at you, even if I know we’ll fight in the future. I don’t want you to think you can’t tell me things either, and I’d appreciate if you started talking or do something because I’m really not sure I can stop talking at this point...”

Noh-Varr listened and watched the seam of the water, ever closer. He wasn’t particularly fond of large masses of it, it wasn’t one of those substances he could keep control over and that, somewhere deep inside, terrified him. So the Kree only allowed his boots in the water as he kept his vigil by Tommy’s side.

“Shh,” he muttered, hand groping for Tommy’s head, fingers running through hair so like his own, and yet so much finer in texture and softness. 

“Tom-My...” he tried to gather his thoughts, the unquelled rage, the dire need to change this world that allowed harm to befall such perfect creatures as Tommy Shepherd.

“I...never meant to have your ire upon me, hala, believe me, it is not something I crave, you are my everything, my home, the keeper of my heart. It’s never my aim to displease you. But I could not leave this as it was. I could not allow him to live, knowing he’d done you harm. I know your laws are different, your moral code a murky guessing game and your heroic duties too gentle to punish those that deserve it. I have no...fear of being incorrect. The Kree Way is Supreme. And the way demanded his life for the harm he would bestow on others.”

Tommy sank into the touch, thinking he could stay like this for hours, a rare personification of stillness and peace, Tommy with the waves and his Kree. 

“Yeah, I know,” he said to the sky. “A lot of people wouldn’t think you were wrong. Part of me is grateful he is, to be honest, but do I regret it? I do. It’s a weird code we have here among superheroes on Earth, but it’s ours and...just don’t do that. Or, do what you can to avoid it.” 

Tommy was not desperate enough to believe Noh-Varr would submit to the misguided sense of justice Earth had, and he would be too cruel if he forced the Kree’s back to bend just for his delight. After all, who was to say they were better than the Kree and their morals? 

All of it was enough to make Tommy’s head pulse, so he shut his eyes and wiggled down until the waves brushed his ears, offering temporary moments of muddled sound.

Once he had his fill, he opened his eyes and was pleased Noh was still there.

“Sorry,” he said. “Not for getting mad at you. I think I have the right to be angry when you do that, but I’m sorry for not considering more about how you feel. I mean that and don’t say that kind of thing often. Tires me the fuck out. I don’t want to think much about it.”

He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “I just wish I had never been so stupid to let what happened happen last night.”

“It would never have happened had I stayed by your side as I was intended to,” Noh sighed, tugging and shifting until Tommy was situated between his legs, head resting on his stomach and the Kree’s legs as his armrests. This was incredibly...still, this moment in time. The two of them weren’t people to exact great empathy, or swear allegiance to a gentle cause...nor to show concern for others. But between them, right now, there was nothing more comforting than the other’s presence.

“Do you think I could begin construction of our house here? I like this place.”

Tommy considered that a moment, pressing closer into his make-shift seat.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” 

There was no point prying into the past, who should have done what and what could have been done differently. Tommy balled it up and tossed it into the garbage, overflowing, but who had the time to bother with it.

“Okay,” he said once more time had passed with nothing but the susurrus of the waves. “From now on, if something like that...happens or whatever, you have to tell me. Don’t lie to me, and I won’t lie to you. I don’t want to fuck this up, Noh. Not with you.”

“You will never be rid of me, Thomas Shepherd,” Noh-Varr offered, bending his spine in ways only he was capable of to kiss the young man’s head, taking a deep whiff of the scent he’d kill for. The scent of the man he murdered for so easily.

“You are my hala. That means for life. My life. My life span is estimated around two hundred cycles...which would be...one hundred and eighty-five human years.”

Tommy calculated that. “I always use to wonder how long I’ll live. I heal a lot faster and I almost never get sick. I think I might be able to make it near 200.” He felt his smile pull at the kiss to his head, and he didn’t recall the flicker of fear that had been plaguing him lately, not even at the thought that his boyfriend murdered on his behalf. Then again, whoever said they had an orthodox relationship.

“You know,” he said. “I use to think I would die young. I worried what would happen if my legs gave out, unable to run because of old age or something like that. But, if you’re here, I don’t think growing old and walking around or wheeling around in wheelchairs is scary anymore.”

“I would carry you...or build you something that can almost match the speed you’re used to,” Noh answered in a heartbeat, though the thought of Tommy old and decrepid, the way he’d seen humans age, frightened him. Kree didn’t age like that. They didn’t change much physically, just keeled over one day when all their functions gave out. Unless they were enhanced or altered, in which case they could usually be replenished with the right technology.  
“But we have many years before we have to consider what is appropriate for a senior speedster.”

Tommy chuckled, and it felt good to hear how sincere it was.

“Maybe by then I could have cyborg legs,” he answered, turning to tangle his fingers in Noh’s hair. God, how good it felt, feeling the strands, smelling him, feeling his warmth. Noh was a miniature sun, Tommy was certain of it.

“I want to go home,” he said. “I just want to eat and go to bed with you. I,” he glanced down at Noh’s chest, then back to his eyes. “If anyone asks, especially Cap or the team, you were with me all night. Just you and I. Okay?”

“Why would they ask such a thing?” Noh nuzzled into the touch, but hauled Tommy to his feet. Or rather, to his arms, the speedster’s clothes dangling over a well-built shoulder.

“How about we go slow. My way?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead carrying the speedster off over landscape and buildings, enjoying his vertical running way more than necessary.

Tommy let him, and it was petrifying, and exhilarating, and freeing all wrapped in the form that was Noh-Varr. When they arrived back home, there were no protests as he allowed Noh to do as he wished, how he helped Tommy cleanse himself off the salt still glued to his skin, what they ate, what they watched, how they sank into each other when they went to bed.

“Noh,” Tommy said, touching his face in the darkness of their room. He didn’t say more though he had intended to, seemingly satisfied with whatever the slight touch provided him.

Tommy went to sleep without nightmares. Any and all must have been throttled or stomped to death by Noh.

*

The following days were less a blur and more mechanical steps that started when Tommy got up for class and when he returned home, whether or not Noh was there to greet him. A handful of times he texted with Anthony, not having spotted him on campus, yet not having sought him out yet. Tommy allowed the days to smooth over the raw tension that never quite seemed to get tired of following the speedster. Time, for all the hate and complications Tommy had toward it, was now required it to build up his defenses from scratch.

But, life was being okay. Tommy attended classes, got the hang of the making friends thing, and the tension between him and Noh-Varr had waned for the most part. There were still things to be told, things Tommy knew Noh-Varr was itching to know about his past, but the Kree never pressed.

Tommy was secretly grateful for it, much rather coming home to the arms of Noh-Varr, not his suspicions, and regrouping the schedule they had gotten accustomed to. A few times his teammates joined him for lunch between classes (sometimes in groups, sometimes just Teddy), and that was okay too.

While he wasn’t one to air out his laundry at them, there was an assurance his team provided him with since he joined, one he never admitted to but he didn’t doubt the others knew about it. Good times were to be had when they were together, not squashing the efforts of a baddie, and it helped Tommy re-establish himself, renewed his sarcasm’s vigor and all that.

The only trouble, and that was putting it heavily, was the eerie sensation of eyes on the back of his head. Each time his eyes would flick this way or that, no one seemed out of the ordinary. The feeling persisted, and Tommy was not one to doubt his senses.

Again it was happening. Again no sign of anyone paying particular attention to another college guy heading out of class--

Tommy bumped into a strong shoulder, and was suddenly tugged around a corner, finding Anthony’s smile waiting.

“Fuck,” he hissed, “you just about scared me.”

“Sorry, I was calling you but you didn’t hear.”

Tommy shook that off. “I haven’t seen you in a few days around here.”

Anthony shrugged, hands tucked into his pockets. He didn’t carry a backpack. “Busy with my own classes and such. I wanted to see you though. Are you...I mean, you look good.”

Tommy knew what he meant, and the distress in its cage rattled its iron bars and stretched as far as its murky fingers could.

“I’m fine,” he said, maybe a bit curt. The deflated look on Anthony’s face had him remedy his tone. “I’m okay. I did want to say...thanks again. You know.”

“I know. I’m just glad things are better. I shouldn’t have left you--”

“Don’t. It’s done with. I don’t want to think about it.”

“I get it.” Anthony nodded. “Is, erm, everything okay with Noh? Does he still hate me?”

Tommy smirked at the mentioning of his Kree. “He doesn’t really like anyone that isn’t me. He barely tolerates my team.”

“Yeah, I see you on the T.V. sometimes. It’s...really crazy. In a cool way.”

“Didn’t expect it from me?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Tommy wrinkled his nose, cast another quick scan of the area. Still creepy feeling, hackles rising, still no source of it. “Maybe I’m just not sure what you mean,” he said.

“Then come hang with me.”

The proposal looped Tommy for a throw, and he narrowed one eye at Anthony, dissecting his expression for ill intentions. 

“Just for a bit. Say, at six tomorrow night?” Anthony’s eyebrows arched up in what might have been a hopeful gesture. “Let me treat you to whatever you want to eat, as much as you want, and just hang around. To catch up.”

Free food was an embarrassing weak point in Tommy’s armor. Plus, he had been meaning to talk to Anthony without Noh’s breath at his neck, whispering tales of torture on the other man. After what had transpired with the would-be rapist, Tommy wasn’t certain Noh could contain himself. That was another not-so little chat to still be had, one that went layers beneath the surface they had grazed at the shoreline.

“Okay. Fine,” Tommy said, unaware of when his hand clenched his backpack strap. It wasn’t fair that old memories, the good ones, overlapped the bad ones at the worst times.

Anthony nodded, face softening as his eyes dragged over Tommy. 

“Wait,” Tommy said, spine stiffening. “This isn’t...that’s not a date.”

“What? No, no. I don’t have a damn death wish, Tommy. Your boyfriend made it clear how he thinks of me.” Anthony huffed and threaded his fingers through his dark hair. “Look, I won’t lie when I say I feel like shit what I did to you, and it’s made worse by the fact that I still feel...for you. That way.” He lifted one palm up. “And I’m not asking you to return them or think much on it. I just don’t want there to be anymore lies between us, not like before.”

Tommy had stop breathing at some point. The old Tommy would have been flattered, chest puffing and smirk tugging at having someone ready to be looped around his finger. Yet what he felt was all sorts of chaos, making a mess of his insides.

“Oh,” he forced himself to say. “Yeah. Okay. That’s...cool. As long as you don’t--”

Anthony surprised him by touching his face, fingertips dragging over his cheekbone and falling just as quickly. “I know. I got it. Look, why don’t you text me to confirm tonight if you’re fine with it?”

“No,” Tommy said, voice elevated. “I mean, no, it’s fine. I’m not worried about that. I’m not a damn kid, okay?”

Anthony’s smile returned, pristine and fresh as ever. “Okay then.”

He didn’t like this, not one bit. Noh-Varr had kept true to his word, even if Tommy wasn’t entirely aware of what consequences it would hold. He’d followed Tommy, to school, witnessed everything his lover did. He saw him snoozing in class, which elicited a chuckle that almost gave his position in the air vent away. He saw him munching his lunch, meeting with acquaintances he made and looked content to be where he was in life.

That part was fine, it was great even and Noh felt himself calm down, Tommy could deal with his life and that was a soothing sight to behold.

Except this moment. Anthony was more than a thorn in Noh’s side and even though he’d called Noh that night instead of the police, he had not garnered himself a better standing in the Kree’s eyes. Though he’d kept away from Tommy mostly, which spared him a much more violent fate than he deserved.

But this meeting was different. He was giving Tommy the eye, like a hungry predator starving for meat might give a juicy, plump beast. Anthony’s intention bode ill with the Kree and he was hard-pressed to keep still and silent from his vantage point.

The meeting wouldn’t leave his mind, even as he raced home to beat Tommy to the apartment. He was lucky the speedster chose to walk at a measured pace and attempting to look human. Noh hadn’t been to his job at the library since that incident at the party and he kept suppressing the calls his clueless employers made to his phone.

Tommy felt a little better, he decided, by the time he was back at the apartment. A quiet evening eating and catching up was in order between himself and Anthony, just to air some things out. Even if it ended crappily and Tommy determined it was best for them to be civil, but not around one another, that was good too, because it would be on Tommy’s judgment. He would have the control.

A smile graced his mouth as he entered, dumping his back by the closet.

“Noh,” he called. “Just got back. I’m a bit late ‘cause I ran into Anthony. Gonna meet up tomorrow with him for a bit.”

While he relayed that, Tommy went straight toward the kitchen, which was now always in constant need of being overstuffed to satisfy the demands both he and the Kree had appetite wise.

“I have a damn group project though tomorrow too so I think I’ll be out most of the day. You working tomorrow anyway, right?” he said over his shoulder, sure his voice would carry through their small apartment to wherever the hell Noh was.

Noh-Varr was pulling on comfortable clothing in their bedroom, trying to hide all signs of having been out all day himself. With one last glance in the mirror to satisfy he looked suitably lazy, he kicked his uniform under the bed and ruffled his windswept hair, emerging from the bedroom in sweatpants and an undershirt. 

“Y-Yes, I assume so. I have been given a lot of day-shifts recently, so I will not be bored without you.”

He rarely was, between the observations of Tommy and relentless reading and learning of human culture, there was barely a minute to breathe.

Tommy cast him a softer smile, the kind reserved for Noh and Noh only. Abandoning his half-made meal, he rushed over and basked in a warm welcome from the Kree.

“I think it’s good,” he said, leaning back after a kiss. “You are surrounded by books and I even heard that you got the library popular again because people are going to see the ‘mysterious white-haired hottie’.” He laughed and pulled away.

Yes, life was doing well again, disregarding the talks they still had to have that still loomed over them. For now, easing back into the swing of things was suiting Tommy fine. 

“Besides, I’d hate to be one of those gushy couples that always need the other one around, always texting when not face to face. Ugh. Drives me nuts. No offense,” he said over his shoulder with a light smirk, “but I like having my own time. I’m sure you do too. If you get bored with the library though we can find something else though. Maybe you could be a model or something.”

The tease ended when Tommy’s phone chimed. He made a face in its direction. “Ignore it. I’ll check it later.” He turned, two plates in hand, offering one to Noh. “I was thinking you and I could go for a run later. That way, I can ease you into the idea of going next week to some girl’s art show. She’s kind of my friend now. Really cool. I think you’d actually like her instead of wanting to break her spine.”

Noh-Varr took the plate with eager gratitude and the news with a disgruntled frown. There were few things...alright, many things in human culture he could appreciate, such as music and movies, and many he simply didn’t see the appeal of. Opera and art, especially ‘modern’ art were rather pointless to him. And to imagine wasting an entire evening looking at dry paint sounded rather lethally dull.

“That is going to be one hell of a run, if you think it’ll ease me into that idea,” he was really starting to get the hang of enunciation and sarcasm. They combined for the greatest of effect.

The Kree watched the food being loaded onto his plate and his stomach gave somewhat of a roar, he hadn’t eaten all day, save for some...less than savoury trashcan content on his observation.

“Though if you change the subject back to Anthony, I’m sure my breaking spines instinct will be dissuaded from anyone else.”

Tommy rolled his eyes and settled into a corner of the couch.

“I’m not saying he’s my friend now, but he did prove he wasn’t a total asshole,” he reminded before diving into his plate. It was wolfed down within two minutes, and already he was set on having seconds.

“We’re just going to hang out for a bit. I’m not going to his place to fool around or anything,” he said, voice capturing the next eye-roll enough that Tommy didn’t have to replay the act. “Nor am I going to be doing anything stupid like last time. I’m Speed. Pretty impossible to touch me.”

Noh almost choked on the vicious comment on his tongue the instant he heard those words, but he covered it up by devouring his food and keeping his eyes on the large window that gave them a decent view of the city. Impossible to touch? Hardly. Tommy was more vulnerable than he seemed to realize and the Kree wasn’t comfortable at all with the notion of further involvement of Anthony in their lives.

“Do you favour him? Why do you insist on his company?” It wasn’t supposed to come out as sour as it did, but Noh wasn’t worried about his lover leaving him, no, he was concerned...annoyed by Anthony’s continued existence and presence. Why did Tommy insist on seeing him it all?

“What?” Tommy scowled at Noh and his plate made a loud thump as he half-tossed it onto the coffee table. “No! There is no competition between the two of you, Noh. He’s not even a player to beat.”

It was a valid point though, as to why Tommy insisted on his company. Those were words spoken by Tommy’s logic a handful of times since he bumped into the ghost, and still questioned his motives, all of which must have been fueled by selfishness. Petty selfishness. 

For a while, Tommy sulked in his spot, direction is frustration at the blank T.V. screen. Then, he sighed, more because Noh-Varr could wait an eternity for him to answer if that was the case. Tommy didn’t want an eternity. Maybe he had waited too long as it was to share another chunk of his history.

“Anthony wasn’t...exactly lying, Noh, when he said I’d fooled around with a lot of other guys.”

“But you said he was the only one,” Noh carefully guided his tone to be...neutral. He was offended that Tommy had lied to him, especially because the speedster had such an explosive reaction when he had done so himself. And he was offended that there might be truth to Anthony’s words from the party, which still burned vividly in his mind. Was Tommy really...did he really have such a history? Did he crave attention and not care how he got it?

The Kree frowned, brows drawn together as he regarded his lover with mild disgruntlement. What else was Tommy keeping from him?

“Why did you not tell me? Did you lie when you told me you had not...been with anyone before me? I don’t understand, Tom-My.”

“I wasn’t lying!” Tommy snapped at him, though the anger swelled around himself, and not the Kree. He bit on his tongue at the harsh tone to his words. “Look, sorry. I wasn’t lying when I said I never...did that before.”

He rubbed his neck, dragged his fingers through his hair, scratched his scalp. He was a case study in fidgeting and couldn’t stop himself.

“Girls were okay,” he started, eyes hopping from one thing to the next. “But it wasn’t the same. Not really. There were a lot of guys in our group and, well, I don’t want to really talk about the details, but I liked it when they wanted my attention. They were cool in my eyes. I wanted to be like them when I was their age, and I knew they really just wanted me to...do things with them. I didn’t care. It was still empowering to me at the time, but once it was done with and I was out of the group and locked up, I realized how naive I really was. There’s one thing a teen hates finding out they are, Noh, and that’s being naive.” He shrugged and rubbed his hands together, clearing his throat. “But Anthony...he’s the one whose opinion I really cared about, not the other guys. I really wanted him to like me like that, to be with me and only me. So...”

The Kree listened, didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t comment on any of what his lover said. He waited, absorbed information and categorized Tommy’s twitches in order of occurence, frequency and repetition. The mutant in front of him was...nervous. This wasn’t something he was comfortable with, he didn’t know how to reassure a nervous Tommy, nor did he know how he was supposed to react once the speedster finished telling him the story.

“That does not explain to me why you want his company now,” he brushed aside the complicated history, it was done and over and didn’t affect the current circumstance at all.

“What am I supposed to gain from this other than an irresponsible amount of jealousy because you still crave his admiration?”

“It’s not like that,” Tommy huffed, biting on his thumb now. “It’s...before, it was like he had all the power. He used me, he got what he wanted. Not that I didn’t get something out of it. Now though, it just feels...good being the one in control. I don’t know if I really want to be friends, but part of me has been trying that making amends thing for the bad I did.”

Tommy glanced at Noh. “After he hurt me bad like he did, I...well, the reason I ended up blowing the school I was at was a bit of a lie. First off, it wasn’t my school, but his. He only attended enough not to be kicked out, and I think he only went just for the flare of it. Doesn’t matter. I...that was really stupid what I did. I got people hurt that I didn’t mean to. I just want to smooth things over, a little at least, and if he’s left dangling and the one left weak in this dynamic, that’s just a plus for me.”

“This is a bad idea, Tom-My,” he wasn’t going to be dishonest about his opinion on the matter. Anthony was a book that needed to be closed, a chapter of Tommy’s history that should long since be finished.

But far be it from Noh to impeach the speedster. His freedom was his alone to command. Though the Kree seriously considered extending his stalking habit to this little event. However, before he could explain himself or why he thought this to be a terrible idea, his phone rang with vigor and possibly fury. He glanced at the display. It was the library. And he doubted this was about late fees.

“I must..take this call.”

Tommy visibly eased up at the ringtone, as if remembering there was a whole life beyond their current discussion. “Yeah, no worries. I’m going to shower meanwhile. Try to be nice on the phone, yeah?” he added, offering Noh’s thigh a squeeze before dashing into the bathroom.

A hot shower and its little miracles might help de-muddle Tommy’s thoughts. As much as he understood Noh’s comment, Tommy doubted he would leave Anthony alone so easily. Would he? Maybe. Wasn’t it fair Tommy got to end that part of history with a satisfied ending, one where he had the reins? Tommy thought so. At least, he liked to think so.

The shouting had ebbed away and Noh-Varr found himself licking out pans and plates and pots as his employer - pardon, former employer- read him a list of reasons it was unacceptable to miss over a week’s worth of shifts, take books as he pleased and to eat during his hours. So he was rid of his job, that wasn’t a big hassle to Noh at all. He would find employment if necessary. The lady on the phone, usually a placid creature in her mid forties who really didn’t seem to mind him eating during his hours when he wore tight shirts and jeans, reprimanding him again as he gave a sigh and hung up.

Well. Better not to tell Tommy about this new circumstance. Now he was free to explore and follow his lover around. Maybe he’d even prevent some crime, now that he had bags of free time. 

Tommy got out of the shower with a fat, contented sigh. The weight of his confession to Noh-Varr was hardly an ache in his gut, so he took that upon himself as good news. Maybe it was just easier telling things to Noh-Varr, where it was a Herculean task when he had to avoid the subject with others.

Fresh in sweats and a long-sleeved shirt, Tommy came back out ready to tackle the world’s problems.

“Was it the library?” he asked, spotting Noh in the kitchen. “They’re not making you work tonight again, are they? I just got home.”

It didn’t feel right to lie to him again, so Noh-Varr reshaped the truth to suit his needs. 

“No, they don’t need me tonight. Just a little confusion, seems I was not...thorough in my cleanup today,” he chuckled, though the true depth of his statement was nowhere near the brink of discovery. Tommy had no reason to ever visit the city library, the college stocked all the books he’d ever need to touch anyway and Tommy was an internet child, preferably reading everything on wikipedia rather than leaving through volumes of dead trees.

“It seems I am all yours tonight, hala.”

Tommy grinned, sated by that fact.

“Then get your ass over here,” he said, yanking on Noh’s hips.


	10. Chapter 10

Tommy was stepping on tender nerves when he was set loose from his group meeting. It had gone well enough, even had some delights to it despite the paramount task they had ahead of them to categorize the city’s crime reports. Now Tommy rode that adrenaline rush he got from mapping out and strategizing with his teammates, definitely eager for some time to unwind.

As anxious as he was entering the Italian restaurant, Tommy was parched for a buffet’s worth of food and didn’t care if the time was spent in Anthony’s company instead of Noh’s. Though the latter would have had him smiling and teasing.

Anthony was already there, waving him down to a booth. Tommy took a fraction of a moment to appreciate how casual the restaurant was. Last thing he needed was a testament to Noh’s words about this being more ‘date-like’ than two acquaintances sharing company.

“Hey, glad you made it. I was worried you might not.”

“Shut up,” Tommy said, sliding across from him. “Food first. Starving.”

Anthony laughed in good humor, and, to Tommy’s approval, stayed silent unless it was to relay the orders to the waitress. The space of silence until then was spent, at least for Tommy, ogling the dessert menus, already picking or rejecting each picture sprawled out on the laminated menu.

Food arrived. Tommy ate.

“Wow, you sure haven’t changed in that aspect,” Anthony said, staring, fork in mid-air as Tommy put to shame the average growing boy’s zeal for food.

Tommy licked his lips and smacked them. “God, I was hungry. I can’t eat like usual around people easily.”

“I never really thought about that.”

Tommy shrugged and fingered for the waitress to return. With a smile he knew she’d love, he ordered two more items. Hey, Anthony was paying.

By the look of it, the older man doubted the bite in his wallet would be minimal.

“Got a problem?” Tommy asked.

Anthony blinked, then shook his head.

And, just like that, they began to talk. Tommy brought it all out first, blunt in his explanation to flag down all the delicate issues between the two of them. There wasn’t much he expected from Anthony beyond apologies, but he felt good watching the man shift beneath each accusation, made heavier with each one piling above the other.

Good. Tommy liked that, and that was enough to smile at his discomfort. From that, a slew of memories split through, and Tommy did not recognize his body going slack, his humor lifting. There were memories shared, many worthy of laughs over their stupidity, others solemn and short-lived to prevent a damper on the mood. It wasn’t an altogether pleasant mood, just enough that Tommy could recall why he enjoyed the other’s sense of adventure and witty remarks.

Anthony, true to his word, paid, and the bite of the night air welcomed Tommy.

“I think you just ate half of my paycheck in there,” Anthony said, tugging on his coat.

“Only half? I’ll try harder next time,” Tommy said, surveying the crowd, more out of habit than anything else.

People were everywhere, sidewalks overstuffed with city-goers off to their dates, home, or wherever a Saturday night encouraged people to go. Among the herds were arms breeching the surface of heads, flailing to catch a cab.

“Remember that time we took a cab all the way uptown?”

Tommy smirked. “I wonder if that rich couple still wonder what happened to their grandfather clock.”

A grin passed between the two.

“Up for a mini-adventure?”

Tommy shrugged. “I don’t have any plans. Noh’s working late.”

“Explains why he’s not at my throat right now.”

Tommy punched his arm, but followed. Too soon though, the abundance of people was hindering even his grace in walking, and Anthony hailed them a cab. The streets were congested, less so than the street, but there was something to be said being awash with the city’s lights, which were in endless supply, as they drove through intersections.

“Easy to forget how beautiful the city really is, isn’t it?”

Tommy blinked and looked over at him, having forgotten his company. Indeed he had been admiring the city, allowing its noise and luminosities rinse him free of troubles. However, he kept silent, as if a reply would confirm a desire Anthony held deep in his gaze now.

“Tommy,” he began, reaching out. His hand rested on his thigh, squeezing when it went tense. “You know I care about you a lot. I know it’ll take a long time, if at all, to get things working between us. But, I just have to know, do you…still wonder what could have been?”

Did he? Tommy found the answer easily. “A long time ago, yeah.”

Anthony was leaning closer, other palm smoothing over Tommy’s jaw. It felt the same way it did years ago.

“And now?” Anthony asked.

Tommy absorbed each crevice, every contour that made Anthony’s face and his expression. There were layers, he noticed, none which he could peel back with ease. That was the trouble with most people, but not so much with Anthony, who had always been too aware of his twitches, nerves, anything that might betray a regular person.

As the fingertips Tommy remembered squirming under stilled at his cheek, Tommy hardened his eyes.

“No,” he said.

Anthony’s face fell, his heart probably plundering down into his stomach. With a sigh, he leaned back and faced forward.

Something ineffable swarmed over Tommy then, and he looked away, back to the city lights, not wanting to confront it.

“Anything I could do to change your mind, by any chance?” Anthony asked after a while.

They were rolling downtown, to an area Tommy knew too well. Figures Anthony wanted to reminisce over the best memories they fabricated in this wasteland. At least that’s what it was now for Tommy, where before a sanctuary.

“Not on your life,” Tommy said.

The cab came to a stop. Tommy’s heart twisted.

“I think I’m going to head home,” he said. He knew enough that the twist meant he should head on out.

Anthony’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm, grip fierce. “Please,” he said.

Tommy whipped his head at him, paling. “Jesus, you didn’t come here to try to get in my pants, did you? Are you that desperate?”

The chuckle that trickled out of Anthony was lacking any jollity. “Well, I admit I had hoped you might be interested in that, but I think you made your position on that clear. But I do need you for something. Please.”

Tommy tore his hand free, and then inhaled harshly when hands seized him out from the cab before he had processed them approaching.

“Hey!”

Anthony stepped around the cab. “Relax, Tommy. You’re not going to break out of their hands so easily.” He tapped his own bicep. “Mutants for hire are a big thing nowadays.”

“The fuck is this!” All the rage and hurt that had been molded over in the last few days erupted in a litany of swears that seemed to, at best, tickle Anthony’s humor in the way he laughed.

“I know this looks bad,” Anthony said, gesturing for the brutes to lug Tommy into a warehouse. “But just listen, okay?”

“I’m going to kick you over and over until your great-great-grandparents feel it!”

Anthony fixated with a stare that had Tommy’s curses grow stale. Not once could Tommy recall such a dead look on a live man, and never did he feel so stupid, Noh’s words ballooning in his mind.

Noh-Varr spent the entire day on hot coals. Or at least, that’s what he felt like. He’d forced himself to leave Tommy alone at college today and to earn some money. Through events he’d rather not analyze too deeply, he’d found himself helping out in some sort of entertainment bar with poorly clothed men. The task had been to dance to some rather suggestive music in a more than lewd way. It had been a brief challenge, but the women present at the tables in the darkened room had more than appreciated and rewarded his attempt.

And the best part was the cash he’d stowed away as he pondered the city, killed a few hours eating and stalking through book stores. He knew when Tommy wanted to meet Anthony and through some very subtle phone hacking, he’d found the location. 

Tommy showed up, right on time, in the chinese restaurant Anthony awaited him in. Noh-Varr had disguised himself beneath a heavy, large hood and dark clothing to blend well. Okay, he kind of enjoyed the way people dodged him like timid rabbits. He even tried that thing Tommy wouldn’t allow him to do, and found smoking rather pleasing. The tingle of foreign, slightly toxic substances was a pleasant, tiny rush for his system, even if his proactive metabolism made quick work of them.

The dinner didn’t last long as Tommy, true to form, inhaled his food. Noh dove into the crowd as the two ‘friends’ emerged and made their way through the city. He was never further than twenty steps behind and he seriously had to stop himself from breaking into a white run every time he lost sight of Tommy, or the moment he got into a cab with the hated human.

Following a cab without running over cars was very difficult and Noh had to take to the roofs. By the time he’d caught up the cab, it was empty, devoid of his beloved and his parasite of a former friend.

Noh-Varr felt ominous panic rise up in him. Where were they? Where was Tommy? What turn of events had swallowed his presence from the Kree’s sight? 

Controlling his immediate fear, worry and anger, he concentrated on Tommy’s scent. It was hard to track in the night-air, especially with so many people in the streets.

He’d known this was a bad idea. He should have stopped Tommy from going at all. Noh knew there was a flaw in his reasoning, that the speedster could go wherever he pleased and would do, even against his Kree’s wishes.

Inside the warehouse, Tommy’s attention flicked over everything, calculating chances of breaking some noses and assessing what the hell they were doing here. There was a table with some chairs, and one of them became his as the oxen bullied him onto it, their paws at his shoulders and arms so he wouldn’t bolt out too soon.

Anthony stood across from him.

“I was intending things to go smoother, for us to get closer like before, but unfortunately, you’re more stubborn than I remember. I’m out of time.”

Tommy had a comeback about time and what orifice it could be shoved up into, but the sight of a lump in the corner had it wilt in his throat. A girl, maybe?

“I need your skills, Tommy, and I know you’ll want to help.”

“You think a villain with immeasurable power can’t persuade a superhero but you can?”

“Just need the right leverage,” Anthony said. “And I’m not doing anything huge. It’s petty drug stuff, Tommy. You know it well. Well, it was. Things got…messy. My boss is being pushed around by some other guy who doesn’t know this isn’t his turf.”

Still craning his neck to get a better glimpse of what was in the shadows, Tommy said, “The woes of the criminals. I don’t care what your beef is with other criminals.” Because, clearly, Anthony was still just that.

“You would care if you knew they were pushing sex-trafficking in this area.”

Tommy looked at him. “Sex-trafficking?” he repeated.

“Something you high and mighty types don’t like to get dirty in the name of justice for. Come on, Tommy,” Anthony said, hands flattening on the table, “you know how the pimps and their kind run. No superhero can get that to stop so easily, but my boss can. He doesn’t take kindly to that kind of thing.”

Tommy felt blood leaving his face. “Your boss has some fucked up morals.”

“Don’t you?” Anthony pushed back. “You let the system handle the bad guys that really hurt society. And that system is flawed, you know that well.”

Tommy’s shoulders would have risen in agitation were it not for the grips on him.

“You can’t stop crime, Tommy. You can, however,” Anthony fished out what looked like a USB drive, “contain it.”

“What’s that.”

“How do you think Noh found out where that scum lived?”

For a while, there was the sound of Tommy’s heartbeat, each pulse a mixture of his disbelief, fury, disgust, betrayal, and the kind of pain that came from years of repression.

“You fucker,” he hissed.

Anthony slipped it back into his coat. “That’s just a copy of someone documenting him. At least, enough to get him in big trouble.”

“Petty blackmail.”

“Not just that,” Anthony said. “That was just for your person incentive. I know you don’t want anything to do with someone who snatches up women for the sake of turning them into sex slaves. If I showed you proof, you’d help me in a heartbeat. I think I have enough to persuade you.”

Tommy found it harder to breathe, and his eyes kept straying to the person concealed in the corner. A girl, he had thought. One of the victims? Most likely.

The pressure administered by the guys flanking him increased, and Tommy hissed again, this time from discomfort.

“I just need a few things from you. I know you don’t like helping lowlifes, but we did have a good history at one point. For old time’s sake?”

Tommy spat in his face.

Calmly, Anthony wiped it off, eyes devoid of any sense of emotion that Tommy could read up on.

The blow to his chest had him gasping for air that would come, and he hunched over as much as the hands on him allowed.

The scent was diluted by something heavy and offensive, probably cologne, mixed with the putrid stench of unwashed human male. His nose protested him service, but there was no way Noh-Varr was going off the trail. Someone else was with Tommy now. Someone not quite human, someones, multiple new scents...he really didn’t like where this was going. The notion of Tommy on his own, away from public spaces with that human was discomforting enough, but the fact that multiple male scents had joined him now promised only disaster. Perhaps Noh-Varr would feel blood run over his hands soon enough.

His rage swallowed his fear as he entered a warehouse district, looming buildings with few windows and an air of foreboding about them. This was a place where you went when you did not wish to be found or seen. The implications had the Kree searching harder, faster, he had to find his lover.

His heart was racing, but he paid it no mind as he scaled a wall and strained his ears. Yes. There were voices in one of the buildings, the one to his right. Noh-Varr analyzed the structure, sought an entry point. A window? The Kree began walking up the wall, slipping something almost familiar onto his hands. Human technology had eons to go before being able to provide the right components for Nega-Band replications, but these few pieces he’d liberated from Stark tower would suffice in his proto-types. A rudimentary dimensional shift of an array of primitive weapons, should he need them. Noh-Varr peeled out of his disguise, his uniform, a black and white creation he’d patched up fairly well, tight against the contours of his muscles.

Inside, Tommy recovered, remembering how to breathe.

“Don’t be a smartass more than you already are, Tommy,” Anthony was saying above him.

Out of that aforementioned stubbornness, Tommy forced his weary neck to support his head, piercing the man with a look he hoped consumed every inch of his ill-will toward him.

Anthony cocked his head. “I think you should consider I’m just asking for your services, speed-wise and all that. I could just as easily blackmail you with the documentation and force you to have sex with me.”

At that, Tommy’s demeanor wavered, earning him a laugh with a tune he’d rather forget.

“I like you, Tommy. You’re so easy to manipulate, so easy to read. You think you’re so hard to make sense of,” Anthony went on, his hand signing something.

Another guy, possibly a mutant for all Tommy knew, navigated the shadows, caught something in it that was grunting protests. With a few cautious yanks, the girl Tommy suspected to be hidden there emerged.

Tommy didn’t think he could get any paler, but must have. “Marie?”

She looked not at all like Tommy saw her in his mind. Even in death, she had looked sweet, harmless, and with the kind of smile Tommy loved to pull out of her. This was not Marie. It was a doppelganger, all bones and elbows, mottled skin, stringy hair. Nothing about this was for someone to tuck into any memory.

“She’s alive, yes,” Anthony supplied. “If one could consider that. I gave you the sob story to get you closer, that much is true, but the truth is worse than that, Tommy. Luck is on my side. My boss found her exactly four days ago, after having gone missing for many years. You can just guess where she was given what she looks like and what I told you.”

Tommy stared at Marie, and something vicious snaked its way in and stripped him bare of everything inside. The way Anthony spoke methodically of his own blood, the fact that she was here, the implications, the lies—

“Bastard,” he bellowed at Anthony, grunting when he was slammed back down. “She needs a doctor, she needs to be in a fucking hospital not…not whatever it is the fuck you’re doing with her now!”

Anthony glanced at his sister, then looked at Tommy without a shift in his expression that allowed for a sign of regret to pass by his face. Tommy didn’t know which one of the two siblings was more dead.

“She’s beyond my reach,” was all he said.

A new kind of dread, so cold it burned, crept up Tommy’s spine. “Why is she here?”

“I thought you’d like to see what I was talking about…and then offer the last method of persuasion.”

Marie made a feeble noise, maybe a whimper, maybe nothing at all and the noise had come from Tommy, as the guy holding her entire arm in a palm shoved her into the seat opposite of Tommy.

“You wouldn’t,” Tommy said, but already he was slipping farther from his body. “You wouldn’t…torture her just for something so…petty.”

Anthony rested his hand atop her head, and Tommy flew back into his body at the mocking affection.

“I would,” he said.

This damn building was damn annoying and in a moment, he was going to throw caution to the wind and just blast his way in.  
No, the Kree wouldn’t actually do that. He was much too aware of Tommy’s fragility compared to him and the fact that falling debris might even kill the speedster. Not going to risk that.

So with the most chargrin any being could hold for anything, he crawled into the air duct, trying to shut out the disgusting scent and the stinking mess encroaching the shaft. He hoped it would lead inside.

Noh followed it, as carefully and silently as possible, ears trained on the voices. One of them sounded almost like Anthony and that boiled his blood enough to drive him forward with vicious intent. If any harm had befallen his beloved...if he even so much as looked as if Anthony had touched him...

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tommy said, voice escalating as he noticed Anthony’s fingers tangling into strands of matted hair.

“Why should I? You’re not one for waiting, Tommy.”

Tommy glance down, desperate to find wiggle room. There were hands clasped around his legs too, barricading their use. If the situation was not so dire, it would have been laughable how many hands were on him. Hands were problematic though. He couldn’t go through them like a wall or cuffs.

That was territory too perilous for the speedster to wager on. His eyes jumped back up at the sound Marie meant when the abuse on her scalp was too much, though her eyes had a distance tinge to them still.

“If you hurt her,” Tommy began.

Anthony smiled, flat. “You’ll never know where the copy of the documentation is, Tommy, not if I’m dead. Nor will you sleep well knowing what’s about to happen to Marie. Just another weak point, Tommy. A superhero shouldn’t have them.”

“That’s not true,” Tommy spat, but Anthony was bored with him already, wanting results, now.

Tommy stared, then felt the world slip out from under him. All he had was a technique that might get him nowhere and further piss off Anthony. But the man was right. Tommy wasn’t one for waiting.

Gathering up all his mangled mess of emotions, he began to vibrate, as hard as he could, aware it might ignite an explosion right under him, but it was a small price if he got free.

The explosion didn’t come from under Tommy though, it came from above the little gathering, to be more precise, out of the wall followed by a fraction of the airduct, burning, rotting organic material stifling the nose. But the stink was the least of their concerns now, because the piece of metal, whilst large and projectile, had not been the only thing to emerge from the wall. 

The small canon gave a whine, malfunctioning after the first use already and Noh-Varr crushed the useless piece back into the negative space he’d rendered it from, eyes hard and unforgiving as he stuck to the remnants of the wall. His body was absolutely still as he surveyed the scene. Tommy, surrounded by what TV would call thugs, Anthony, hands on some ragged, wretched creature that might have been human once...

This was enough information. All he needed to know before he cracked his jaw, crouching slightly, eyes seeking Tommy one last moment before they would blank out everything but Noh’s goal. And in this case, it was murder. On multiple accounts.

The explosion had Tommy cease all his attempts, half suspecting he had succeeded. A quick look around told him it was a far worse fate these men would befall. Even before the metal crumbled into shambles on the ground, he knew there could only be one person with enough force to accomplish that, and be at this location at this precise time.

Just as the Kree emerged and the few punks that had guns aimed their weapons, Tommy gasped, “Noh-Varr.”

Their eyes met, and despite the bedlam swelling around him, Tommy was wrestling to get to his feet.

“Noh-Varr! Wait, don’t! Don’t, do you hear me? You can’t!” His shouts got louder, peaking above the shouts and confusion of the grungy warehouse room. Still, he screamed louder, voice quivering with the kind of desperation a begging man had.

He was moments from white-running, the world already swimming out of focus, replaced by stark, white nothingness. Killing would be achieved and he would be its instrument, his rage expanding into fury and cresting into pure wrath.

And then, a voice, achingly familiar and breaking, reached his ears and commanded his body into standstill where he was, crouched on the wall, muscles tense as they could be, ready to kill and main and generally cause mayhem, mind reeling to return from the white-running prep. 

Tommy was calling for him. Hala wanted his attention, hala wanted him to stop.

With the utmost effort, he pried his eyes open to the real world again, the wall beneath his feet aching with the pressure he was putting on the aged bricks.

“Tom-My, do not tell me this is nothing,” he hissed, much like his very, very distant kin that resided on this planet as a pest, “I will have his heart pumping its last spasms in my hand before I crush it.”

“I know, I know,” Tommy threw out, to maintain the Kree’s focus on him. “Please, listen to me. He hasn’t done anything yet, just--” he saw there was no coaxing the Kree from unleashing his rage on Anthony, so he swallowed hard and said, “not the others. They’re not like him. Please, Noh-Varr. Don’t make them casualties when they made a stupid mistake, playing gangster and not realizing what they were getting into...”

He poured all his guilt into his eyes, let Noh-Varr see his defenses teetering and his hope in humanity crumbling. “Please,” he said, louder, and only then did he realize the silence engulfing them.

Everyone had stopped, watching the display between the two white-haired boys, even Anthony, who stared passively at the Kree.

“If you want me,” Anthony said, “you can get me, but without me, Tommy knows he won’t have the evidence I have on you, the one that can send you off this Earth and away from the guy you’d kill for.”

“Shut your filthy mouth you human trash,” Noh-Varr snarled at Anthony, not answering Tommy’s pleas as he crouched down and pushed off of the wall, leaving a massive, gaping wound in the building as he landed on the concrete floor, shattering it with his impact. His proto-gauntlets melted into the shapes he wanted them to be in, two long blades, viciously edged for ripping flesh.

“Whoever wants to live should run now and learn to forget very, very carefully. If I ever see any of you, I will crush you like the pests you are,” the cold arrogance in Noh’s tone was all Kree and very, very serious. He paced towards Anthony, taking his time to relish in the forethought of the pleasure he’d have tearing this man limb from limb.

“Come, let’s see your carcass stand up to the elite of a Kree superior soldier, human.”

The weight now suffocating Tommy lifted, the mutants knowing, or assuming enough, to rip away from him and not engage in a Kree. The same was easily said for the other punks; once one bolted, the rest followed, even if they were ignorant to the Kree’s name and reputation.

Tommy didn’t waste time analyzing where they scattered, rushing forward to collect Marie in his arms, eyes burning at Anthony, yet not daring to touch him.

“Anthony,” he said, speaking quickly in fear of Noh leaping at the man. “Where did you put--”

“I’m not telling. If I die, that’s on you,” Anthony said, eyes never leaving Noh. “A Kree. That explains a lot.”

Tommy buried Marie’s face into his chest, a functioning part of him noting how light and like air Marie was as he lifted her off her feet.

“Noh,” he said, walking carefully to his side instead of dashing as he typically would. The wrath radiating from the Kree should have been terrifying, and maybe it was in some muted part of Tommy’s processing, but all he could see was Noh back at their home, smiling as he watched a show he liked. 

He pressed his lips hard together, rushed away, and returned before Anthony had blinked again, Marie no longer in his arms. Tommy reached out, cautious, and rested his palms on Noh’s face, gauging what he could when Noh was in this state.

“Promise me,” he said. “Come home after. Come home to me after. Please. Whatever...happens, just come home. Can you promise me that?”

Noh-Varr’s eyes were burning through Anthony, were tearing out his insides and feasting on the sight of his dying body already. He would have his thirst for revenge quenched, no matter of the consequences. Whatever logic he usually employed, it crumbled and cracked and gave way to his internal coil of hatred, directed at humanity, at his tormentors and torturers. Now, it focused on Anthony.

He barely registered Tommy’s touch, could not focus his eyes on his lover, could do nothing but process the plea slowly. His chest expanded, he readied himself for the slaughter, but he nodded.

“Always, hala. Go.”

Tommy went, but not far.

Auto-pilot drove his functions now. It was for the best .Beneath the cover of mechanical behavior was a storm of paramount proportions, questions fermenting, doubts blooming, everything that Tommy didn’t want to face now, or ever if he had a choice in the matter.

One bit of those percolating thoughts was the question of how Noh-Varr had found him, and then there was a ‘click’ when the connection of Noh-Varr’s appearance and the tickling sensation of eyes on him occurred. The information was stored to be used as ammunition later because Noh-Varr had lied after all their talk, and Tommy’s psyche could not bear to recognize that truth for the time being.

He was on a roof now, with a view of the warehouse, hoping any second Noh-Varr would tread out, bloodless and Anthony alive. Tommy knew it was a facade. Noh-Varr would only step out bloodless if Tommy’s mind had broken down so much he could fabricate any and all illusions he wanted to see.

Disgust didn’t begin to illuminate the monster inside of Tommy. There he was, a superhero, allowing someone to die. Tommy didn’t deserve to be a superhero, but did earn for fate and life to beat him as she was now.

So Tommy shut himself down, as he had done in those rare times in childhood when it was the last device in him that kept him sane. He didn’t want to think that as Noh-Varr did what he did, that could have been Tommy, gone rogue with killing. He still could.

Tommy stared, unaware of the tremble in his hands or how blank his stare was, or how much they burned from tears he wouldn’t allow to shed, because there was also the hard truth that Anthony had not changed. There were no second chances there, and Tommy had fucked up, stuck in a situation where one door led to misery, and the other woe.

He watched, waiting, if only due to the disturbing fact that he was not aware he was waiting, perched on the ledge like a gargoyle, and feeling every bit like the stone-hard monstrosities they were.

He waited, and kept waiting, and waited more.

Noh-Varr would achieve what his white-run did not. The kill would not be quick, nor clean. It was going to be painful and slow, just like Anthony deserved. The Kree did not mean to exchange words or blows, he wouldn’t leave him a chance for defence, not that the human had much of one against him. And yet, causing Anthony pain did little to make his rage lessen.Even as he every bone in his hands, deaf to the grunts and suppressed screams as he snapped Anthony’s elbows and knees.

Noh was taking his time, forcing the shards to pierce the skin of the human’s arms. He didn’t know if the human had blacked out from the pain yet, he couldn’t hear anything but the pump and rush of blood through his body, could only listen to demanding roars of hatred penned up inside of him.

He paused in his action, even pushed the bone back through broken skin, lightly slapping the human in his grasp until he woke up again.

“Let’s see how much pain you can stand, alien,” he hissed, the wrath unleashed by his hands no longer orbiting the mistreatment of Tommy.

Tommy would have waited years, rooted to the spot, staring at the warehouse. He could not hear what macabre spilled out from it from the distance. There was a noise to his right and back, and auto-pilot told him to spare a glance over. 

There were a group of men loitering, seemingly headed in the direction of the warehouse. Ignorantly or not, Tommy’s heart rate skyrocketed, the only thing he recognized before dashing off toward the edifice.

Were he in his own mind, he wouldn’t have dared to screech to a halt at the entrance, or even allow any of this to happen. He did though, intending to warn of approaching innocents, of Noh’s need to flee into shadows.

He saw it all. Noh looming over, a tower of rage that drained not only Anthony’s blood, but Tommy’s. There was so much blood, splattered, staining, dribbling, and pooling, so much Tommy could not submit to the belief it all came from one person.

What remained of one.

The sound that left Tommy was not all human, and he didn’t know he had grasped the doorway with a vice to keep his eyes from rolling in the back of his head. He clung and ogled the scene, his face like a young man already haunted years by nightmares, just that this one was real and Tommy couldn’t so much as listen to the auto-pilot anymore.

Noh-Varr had almost finished with Anthony, had reduced him to a mess of limbs and organs and broken bones. The young man was long since dead, but that hadn’t stopped Noh-Varr from mutilating the corpse with a venomous hatred of humans that would not be equaled.

The noise only grazed his consciousness, for now, the satisfied bloodlust had him growling his pleasure as he picked up the severed heart, a sad clump of flesh and crimson that dripped all over his hand.

“I promised I would crush your heart, fool,” he muttered to himself, grinning with absolute malevolence as he squeezed the muscle into mush.

When the organ withered, crushed and turned to mush, in Noh-Varr’s hand, Tommy’s heart gave its own lurch, his body jolting at the sound, like no other. Another sound escaped him at that moment, something that wanted to be a miserable cry for what he’d let happened, but it came no more powerful than a dry inhale of air.

Tommy wasn’t seeing Noh-Varr anymore. Where his Kree was stood a ghost, something blurred around the edges, the vibrancy and reality of the room arising from the stew of what had once been Anthony. Anthony, who had made good memories, less than the bad, but they were still good, and Tommy didn’t doubt something had pushed him to become the extremist Tommy had last seen him as. He was just mush now too.

Mush, gore and a large patch of crimson on dirty concrete. Noh-Varr stood back, satisfied with his work, surveying the nothingness he had turned his enemy into. And it felt good. So astoundingly good. He might even compare it to the high he got after really good sex with Tommy, but the Kree’s mind was far from his lover. With some disdain, he wiped at the gore on his uniform, but the blood would stain and rubbing was futile.

His mind was returning to him slowly, like a ruffled raptor settling after his killing frenzy. There was no regret, no disgust, nothing but satisfaction. Yes. This was all humans were. Bits of brittle bone and meat with a lot of...sauce.

He chuckled at the comparison.

Though Noh-Varr was miles away as far as Tommy’s mind went, the chuckle was deafening, starting a wave of chills up and down his spine that wouldn’t cease after the sound itself had ebbed. Tommy’s attention was still on the massacre that one pair of hands had created, and that sound that could hardly be called a chuckle, blew the speedster over.

With a shaky breath his hand lost its purchase on the doorway and he swayed to the side, crashing against the other side of the doorway. He didn’t register the dull ache from his bodyweight thumping against it, or even felt when his own feet betrayed him, slipping out so he landed on his backside. There was a chair nearby that his fall knocked over, but he didn’t even hear that as its death made a noise that couldn’t compete to the depravity of that chuckle. 

The noise had the Kree on edge in just a few seconds flat. He was tense, crouched, ready for more battle to be done, or rather, slaughter. Ignoring the scent of flesh and blood, he sniffed for other life. There was Tommy, of course there was, but he posed no threat. He wasn’t a disgusting human pest that needed squashing. And there was more...more life out there.

But Tommy first.

The Kree approached the doorway with measured paces that he didn’t even attempt to dampen. And soon enough, he stood before Tommy, in what he considered post-kill glory and probably looked like murderous insanity to the speedster.

Noh-Varr cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth to speak, though the language wouldn’t make much sense to Tommy. He was speaking Kree.  
“Are you proud? Of course you are not. You don’t want me to kill. You want me complacent. Obedient. Subject to your human concept of affection,” a moment, a click in Noh’s thickly hazed mind, and English.  
“We can go home now.”


	11. Chapter 11

Tommy recognized Noh-Varr in front of him too late, the Kree already proud and reeking of a creature whose bloodlust had been partially sated. The speedster’s eyes crested with understanding, bits of himself putting the room back together, and then they widened when Noh-Varr spoke to him, not in English.

As the words rolled out, Tommy’s breathing came in heavy, quick inflations of his chest, his heart about to burst. Nothing in his mind matched his physiological reactions though, still glossed over with the mechanism of auto-pilot.

Then Noh-Varr spoke English and Tommy heard his exhale at last, coming out as a shuddering breath. He couldn’t feel his hands or legs. He stared at Noh-Varr’s face, brain taking notes to be thrown back in the speedster’s face later, like how Noh-Varr had no regrets over the torture, how Tommy should not have been shocked at what he found, how the Kree looked at him right now in Tommy’s sad state.

For the moment, Tommy just stared at Noh-Varr, having misplaced why he had returned to the warehouse at all.

The Kree waited motionless in front of him, breathing evenly, blood drying on his skin and clothes, even his face, as the liquid had splashed their in his eager rush to kill the human that offended him so. 

Tommy wasn’t moving, just looking up at him with an expression that wasn’t quite fear, nor was it relief. 

The two of them remained like that, Noh only changing his position to crouch in front of his speedster with eerie patience and not speaking.

Meanwhile, outside, the group of thugs was being restrained and prepared for their police pickup. 

“We should comb the building, just in case we missed a few,” Kate suggested as she tightened the cuffs on the nearest groaning body. The rest of the team, sans Tommy, had shown up and performed perfectly.

Inside the building where Tommy’s team was so close to infiltrating, the speedster was still looking at Noh-Varr, eyes lowering as the Kree crouched. Tommy wanted to scream at him, wanted to hit him, just as badly as he wanted to dive into his arms and bury himself in his warmth until the bad feelings got tired of chasing him.

But still Tommy couldn’t find what part of his brain accessed his limbs and made them useless. His tongue was sand, his throat full of it, and he couldn’t even whisper his Kree’s name and let the tone carry the burden of all his sentiments.

It didn’t matter though. Even if Tommy had caught up with himself to reach out and cup Noh’s face, something else snatched the opportunity away. Tommy was in a bad enough state to not pick up on the sudden rush of wind coming from the side, nor did he acknowledge the darkness that stole him from Noh-Varr was from his very teammate.

In a mad leap, Teddy had soared through and scooped Tommy up, letting the momentum of his flight lead him to the opposite end of the warehouse, far from Noh’s quick grasp. By the entrance, Billy’s magic was all that prevented the Kree from escape, both his and Teddy’s eyes fierce and alert.

They had stumbled on the blood, not just staining the floors and walls, but the Kree. They had seen Noh-Varr crouch before Tommy, and that was enough of a red flag that had the sturdiest of the two yank Tommy far from the alien, the other creating a perimeter to ensure no escape.

“Noh-Varr,” Teddy said, not trusting Billy could contain his emotions long enough. “What did you do?”

It was a question full of bewilderment, barely above a whisper.

The rush of motion had Noh-Varr reel backwards, on his behind for half a breath before he was up on his feet, barely controlling the rage coursing through him at the idea that someone had the audacity to snatch Tommy away from him.

With the utmost and mightiest of self-control, he lowered his fists, fingers uncurling as he recognized the two Young Avengers and knew they were no threat to himself or his lover.

Well, okay, maybe just Tommy.

He glanced towards the mess he’d made earlier and gave a satisfied huff, a lazy smirk dashing over his lips.

“I took care of some business.”

“You mutilated a person!” Billy had reached the peak of his restraint. “You were told, Noh-Varr! You could...you...you will get in over your head with not just Cap, but who knows who else!”

“Noh-Varr,” Teddy said, voice deeper than Billy’s, and hopefully able to lure the Kree’s attention to him and not Billy’s outrage. “Why? To do that to someone, why? Was it for him?”

Teddy gestured to the lump in his arms, gaze on the speedster unsteady and glued to an expansive chest.

“Because if you did, look,” he shifted Tommy as gently as he could, but got no response just yet. “This isn’t good for him, Noh-Varr. Is this what you want? Is this what you want to do to Tommy? Look at him!” Teddy spoke firmly, but refused to raise his voice to a shout. “You’ve traumatized him, Noh-Varr.”

Tommy made a noise then, the name of Noh-Varr filtering into his mind. His eyes focused hazily on the arms around him, knowing it wasn’t Noh-Varr and desperate to find where the Kree had gone, if only he had the sense to better look around or return back to his own mind.

The Kree didn’t like being interrogated. He didn’t like it one bit. What had he done wrong? He’d defended and rescued Tommy, just as it was his duty and right to do. And he’d killed his assailant, his enemy, the man to cause his lover pain.

And he would be damned if he stood accused and threatened with jail again.

“I want for Tom-My not to be endangered by the scum he is surrounded with!” It was the first time Noh had ever raised his voice in his own defense and it brimmed with repressed hatred of years.

“I want for him to be safe without my constant attention, I want him not to be touched or abducted or forced into anything by the very pests that infest this planet! I have a right to defend what I love do I not?!”

“Noh.” It was the first thing Tommy said in what seemed like hours, and as the name left him, he spotted the Kree farther away than he recalled being. 

Panic overwhelmed him and he surged forward, only to be snagged back on powerful arms. Grunting, Tommy clung to them, eyes wide and staring at Noh as if terrified he’d vanish in a blink.

“Tommy, wait!” Teddy held strong, looking at Noh the entire time he grappled with containing what was an unstable speedster. “Noh-Varr, I know you want to protect him, but the way you’re doing it is hurting him. You tortured someone to death and that wasn’t for Tommy. That was hate you’ve been hiding for a long time--”

“It doesn’t matter,” Billy said, tense from voice to nerves. “Noh-Varr...we can’t overlook what you’ve done. We...are going to have to take you in--”

“No!” Tommy’s shriek just about startled his teammates’ skin off. His arms flailed, eyes pinned on Noh-Varr, running on fear and nothing else. “Get out of here! Noh-Varr, get out of here! Get out now!”

“Tom--”

Tommy drowned out Teddy’s voice with another louder, piercing scream, this time demanding the Kree to escape through the same way he snuck in. “They’ll lock you up if you don’t get out! Now!”

He didn’t want to react,didn’t want to move an inch before the words took on meaning and seeped through to him. What Teddy and Billy were saying to him didn’t make sense, why did he have to be punished, why wouldn’t they let go of Tommy, why were they...

Trying to force them apart. It struck him like lightning and his eyes widened, before he launched himself at Teddy with an animalistic growl of aggression.

“Let go of him you fucking Skrull! No one is going to take me in, especially none of you, you would have to kill me before I bow before you!”

By the time Noh-Varr dove for Teddy, the rest of the team had staggered in at the mess, and noise erupted all around at the display of violence, no sound louder than Tommy’s scream, which seemed stuck on a loop.

Teddy had been semi-ready for the aggression and hate to befall him and, with Tommy fierce in his grip, dodge by leaping high into the space a large warehouse like this allowed. In the corner of his mind Billy hovered, preparing to engage in formation with the others.

Before that, he felt Tommy wiggle like a wild animal in his grip and the speedster knocked himself straight out of the air, maneuvering his body and speed to land with enough grace to prevent damage. Not even before his toes spread out on the ground, Tommy tackled Noh-Varr, grabbing any and all of him, angry, protective, terrified, panicked, and more bubbling beneath his actions.

“Don’t touch them,” Tommy shouted, shoving at his chest, doing anything he could to warrant all of Noh’s attention. The adrenaline was at its pinnacle now, and soon it would plummet, and Tommy with it. “Run, you have to get out of here! You have to hide! Please, get the fuck out of here!”

“I will not leave my hala,” Noh-Varr growled, to the Young Avengers in warning, to Tommy in what he thought was reassurance, an arm half around Tommy and restraining the punches to his chest. His lover held his attention and his protective rage, in contrast to Noh’s snarl, his touch was tender and careful where the speedster was concerned.

“I swore not to leave your side, I do not fear them and I will fight anyone who wants to take me away!”

"We don't want to," Kate said, restraining her disbelief, arrow out but not drawn. "But we don't kill. That is a law you broke. You can understand why we can't let this go."

Tommy didn't cease using force to get Noh to budge, but nothing would do. Already his body was a shout away from going out from under him. 

A mad, desperate solution came to mind. In a voice only Noh could hear, and with his eyes more wild than they had been all night, he whispered, "Run with me."

Noh’s entire body stilled, eyes moving down to Tommy and focusing on him rather than wildly assessing a strategy to take out all of the Young Avengers. Possibly avoiding any deaths. 

But this suggestion was acceptable. Just to take Tommy and leave. None of them would be able to keep up with them anyway, except the damn mage.

“Anywhere you go, I do too.”

Noh-Varr’s bloodied, gloved hand found Tommy’s and his body burst into motion, the white-run an easy pace for the speedster to keep and if he should be fatigued, the Kree would draw him into his grasp.

Physically, Tommy was fine, the picture of great health. His inner devices seized that one good thing going for him, and the warmth of Noh-Varr’s hand as they dashed out of the city, then state, and kept one foot rushing in front of the other.

Tommy didn’t know how long they had run, but Billy couldn’t teleport to them when the location kept changing, hopping from one place to another. They must have rushed through countless cities, passed through pastoral scenery, because Tommy’s legs were aching when they came to a stop, and he had no clue where they were. 

It was dark, he recognized. So dark the sky sparkled with its stars, something not seen from the city. Beyond that and the landscape blanketed by the night, Tommy knew nothing. The ache in his legs had him crumble onto his backside, leaning against whatever the hell was behind him, tree, barn, dog, it didn’t matter.

There were crickets arching over the sound of his heart and breath, and Tommy stared at the bumps his legs made in the shadows. He had ran, ridden an impulse misguided by panic and fear. Fear of what? At Noh-Varr, at himself, at what was to come. Didn’t matter. It had shoveled him down a path he had thought was left in the past.

Tommy found his hands, felt his fingers tingling, and put them over his face. He didn’t cry, wouldn’t cry even if it was what his mind needed to be purged and leave room for him to return back to it. Instead he just sat there, face pressed into his palms, and tried to shake off the fear, if not the image of Noh-Varr crouching before him with patience that contrasted with the way Tommy had seen him mutilating Anthony.

The long run had calmed Noh-Varr’s spiralling mind, had given him back his logic and cool thinking rather than the immeasurable rage he’d been filled with. He assessed the situation, again and again, but Tommy’s face, his fear, his panic would not leave the Kree alone. He recalled their conversations, Tommy explaining to him why killing was condemned, why he should abstain from his rightful wrath, why he needed to pretend to be a functional human when he was so much more.

By the time they stopped, the only thing Noh regretted was involving Tommy in all of this. But there had been no chance of him not coming to his lover’s aid...he should have been more subtle, killed Anthony when the speedster would never know. It had been rash and now...they were in a world of troubles that Noh-Varr could not navigate.

But Tommy’s state, the defeated, crumpled form of him and his barely hidden despair was enough for him to know he’d wronged him in many ways.

The Kree did not speak, just stripped his gloves of, the blood on the rest of the uniform long since dry. And his uniform was self-cleaning, so the biological residue of Anthony’s slaughter would soon be gone. The dried splashes on his face would linger however.

He breathed, steadily, trying to find the right words. They weren’t anywhere within his reach. Only Tommy’s now suddenly frail form was and so he drew it into his grasp, pressed his head to his lover’s shoulder.

Tommy’s shoulders were rocked with tremors, the sole manifestation of the storm that would not erupt today. Breathing was his purpose, deep breaths, over and over. He’d abandoned his team, he was an accomplice in a crime, fulfilling the fate so many insisted would befall a sociopath like Tommy.

He’d fucked up so bad. 

There was something on his shoulder and then it was Noh-Varr holding him, tentatively at first it seemed, then firmer. Tommy accepted it as his anchor and clung to him. He stayed like that for a while before he found the vigor to pull away enough to find Noh-Varr’s eyes.

What he wanted to say, he had no strength for. All his screams had been spent for the day, his efforts already gone. Tommy wasn’t sure how he wasn’t a puddle like Anthony had become, though for very different reasons.

“There’s so much hate in you,” was what ended up coming out.

“Yes,” Noh-Varr didn’t have a defense for his actions, he wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done nor disgusted with the way he’d killed by torture, “I am...bad. For this planet. For humans. For you.”

That was the essential truth of it, wasn’t it? It didn’t matter what he wanted, because a peaceful existence, just him and Tommy, it didn’t seem possible. He would have been better off serving his Empire as scientific research, he wouldn’t be able to act on his hatred...He never should have accepted his memories’ return, only with a blank slate could he have started over afresh. But like this? He was damaged, easily influenced by emotions he’d always been able to control before. And now? The results of his lack of control were destined to steep him into a fate he could no longer influence.

Whatever fight that had been brewing within Tommy hours ago buried itself, locked in a cage whose ribs were already worn thin at compressing everything crammed in there. Seeing Noh-Varr’s face now, Tommy drowned in the expression and traced the contours of his face.

“You’re the best thing and craziest thing that’s happened to me,” Tommy said softly. “But I can’t change you by force, Noh. I don’t want you to be something you’re not. What you did in there,” he sucked in a shaky breath, “really scared me. I...I don’t know what to do. I don’t want you taken away. I won’t let them lock you up. I’m the one that fucked things up, Noh. Not you. What you did put me off, but seeing you taken away would kill me.”

And it was the truth, one that Tommy knew was radical, but he had no doubt in his mind Noh had brought something good in his life he could not function without.

“So what do we do now?” Noh-Varr didn’t like this feeling, but really, since his liberation from the Cube, he’d never been free, never in control of what he should or wanted to. There was only the choice to not kill, and he’d broken that principle twice already on Earth. 

He wasn’t good, not in the human sense and not in the Kree sense either. It wasn’t the killing, that was perfectly justified. But he had betrayed his principles, his code, the laws he was supposed to abide. And that was unacceptable. And still, no regret for the killing overcame him.

“I cannot return, can I? I’ve taken you from your people, your team, your kin...”

And that cut deep, even in him. He knew what it was like to lose everything and his empathetic abilities were developed enough to never wish that on Tommy.

“Tom-My,” there was a crack in his voice, a despair to know what he’d done to his lover, “for...forgive me.”

Tommy swallowed, riding the potency of his auto-pilot until something could be sorted out. Logic. Baby steps. No time for mulling over emotions or the deep pang, or the thorn forever piercing his heart.

“I know you’re not bad like that,” Tommy insisted, but the force of his voice was swept by a breeze. “You…You’re a Kree. You were a soldier. It’s…it’s not easy. Not when you…you have so much hate. I’m not afraid of you, you won’t hurt me, not like that, but I’m…scared of what you can do and, worse, what the consequences are.”

Tommy’s hands fumbled to find Noh’s, pressed into those large, warm hands, hands that had torn Anthony apart. Yet another thought that was chucked back out of mind. He pressed his forehead to Noh’s.

“I’m sorry for pushing you to this. If I hadn’t,” Tommy shut up. No room for the past, no room for the emotions tagged with them. “We can’t talk about it now.”

Tommy shut his eyes and categorized priorities, willing logic to the forefront and keeping everything else shut down.

“Going to keep you hidden. I need time to think. We…I’ll call my team later, tell them I’m okay. I got leverage, okay?” Right, just a plan. Follow a plan. “I know…a place. My mom’s old house in the west. We’re going there. We’ll be safe there.”

A plan, good. Logic. Great. They could work with this. They were together, right? Everything else fell by the wayside, as long as Noh-Varr had his home, his hala right here beside him, not abandoning him to his fate or deciding the Kree wasn’t worth his efforts anymore.

“You are tired...you have not eaten...direct me to this place, I will carry you.”

*  
The house was less than...appetizing, but it was a place to stay, somewhere to rest, something Tommy needed desperately and Noh was starting to grow weary too. He’d done and seen too much today to be in any mood for anything beyond sleep. On their way there, they’d liberated some food from a store, too fast for anyone to notice, or to stop. 

They ate in silence, they settled into the house in silence, and went to bed, at least, the same one, in silence too. 

Noh-Varr settled onto the mattress, gingerly keeping his distance, back stiff as a board, body clean of blood, but his mind heavy. 

The food was not tasted, having been wofled down for the sole goal of sustaining Tommy’s life. What thin stretch of an existence it was, that is. He kept his gaze leveled when they entered the home, refusing to indulge the memories that licked the darkest parts of his mind.

 

He showered, quick and with a futile purpose of rinsing the troubles down the drain. Back at the bed, he found Noh-Varr uneasy on it, especially when the speedster stretched out beside him. There wouldn’t be much time for a respite, for this moment of not going at each other’s throats and screaming as loudly as their lungs allowed.

Tommy reached out as he often did and buried his fingers in Noh’s hair, tugging him close to kiss him chastely on his chin. There, Tommy lingered his mouth, pressing his body close. Maybe if they molded into one another enough, they could prolong their time together before the next dilemma came at them out of left field. 

Noh turned to his lover in a fluid motion once he’d gotten that little kiss, that small, but sincere gesture of affection he clutched tightly into his heart, committed the feeling of Tommy against him to memory as he wrapped his arms around him in an embrace that allowed for room to breathe, but not much more.

“I want to live with you...I just want to live with you.” He muttered, brow pressing to the crown of Tommy’s head, nose buried in hair as he gently sucked in his lover’s scent. 

“That is the only thing I am certain of. You...too are the best thing to have happened to me, Tom-...” he hesitated, then pressed on in an even lower tone, “Tommy.”

Tommy screwed his eyes shut tightly at his name said by Noh’s tongue. On an exhale, he relaxed and dragged his palms over the strong back that somehow supported not just Tommy’s burdens but Noh’s hatred and misery.

“I’m here,” he promised, fingers stroking the delicate spot he loved so much, at the nape of Noh-Varr’s neck. “I’ll always be here.”

He pulled back, the tenderness of his palms making way for desperate, needy tugs and pulls to find Noh’s face and kiss him harder, pouring a thin layer of his anxiety into it, and letting a tip of his anger unleash in how he bit and tangled his fingers in Noh’s hair.

Noh gladly took it all, the nips to his lips, the harsh tugs on his hair and most of all, the touch of their lips and the twining of tongues. He could taste the desperation and he felt the same burst of panicked, frantic need for his lover, for this to be how their lives played out, in each other’s arms no matter what. He clung to Tommy, his hands digging into shoulders too narrow, too young to carry a burden as they did. The speedster was breaking under it, but the Kree had done nothing to alleviate him of this task.

Noh wrapped himself closer, needed Tommy to melt into him so maybe they could be just one being, one so whole and content with itself it was untouchable for the rest of the universe.   
A hand slipped to Tommy’s side, fingers that could tear a man to pieces tenderly tracing over the speedster’s skin, tips drawing confessions in an alien tongue over the sensitive area.

Tommy sank into the touches, however rough they were or sore they made his already weary body befall. Sounds that had drowned under his misery earlier spilled as gasps and grunt, hands returning the abuse on Noh’s back and through his hair, yanking and scratching, marking the Kree as much as a human could. 

“Noh,” he said around a clash of their mouths.

Tommy shifted enough so he was that much more suffocated by Noh’s body against his, wanting it to squeeze every pained thought out of him, or crush them to death before they could grow like mold throughout the speedster’s body.

Somehow his fingers put themselves to better use, tugging and popping buttons on his own clothing, trying to squirm out of them while not breaking the aggressive kisses.

Their mouths moulded together, would not be separated for anything, even if the future held much promise of an experience that would truly let them sink into one another.

By the time Tommy was mostly undressed, Noh had only managed to rid himself of his shirt, too absorbed in the unspoken emotion he poured into their kiss, into all the promises he couldn’t give Tommy, all the safety and security he’d failed to provide for the one person, the one entity he loved in this damn universe. And any other. 

His hands were guiding albatrosses along Tommy’s hips, lifting, urging, tempting the speedster to roll onto him, to straddle him. Tommy was still bent low over him, unwilling to break the kiss even as both their bodies began to relax in the heat of the moment, painful thoughts pushed far from mind.

Tommy anchored one knee on either side of Noh’s hips. He pushed off the wide chest with a smack as their kiss ended, for the moment. Their breaths came in puffs Tommy thought he could see, befitting for a couple of outlaws that had rushed clear across the country and now emptied their distress, if only a little, into a physiological act that was so much more than just sex.

With the view, Tommy indulged his nails by letting them bite down, down, down the chest, watching the rivulets of pink barely make themselves shown against Noh’s skin. The resulting way Noh’s hips pushed against him had Tommy do it again, and once more.

What remained of their clothing was now a shabby mess at the side of the bed, and it was that heat Tommy zeroed in on. All his focus went to compiling it all and gathering it into his own core. Tommy found the Kree’s eyes again, hands splayed flat on that chest, and he rubbed his backside against the hardening bulge beneath it, more than pleased at how such a change in angle offered him a surplus of power he always wanted, even if Noh could reclaim it by rolling them back.

But his Kree was perfectly content to let Tommy have this power, he revelled in it, not submitting, but giving himself to his lover. The press of the speedster’s firm ass against his growing erection (scratch that, standing) was nothing short of delightful and he felt himself unwind further, even as the heady heat coiled in his gut for that familiar rush. Tommy’s nails on his skin had him hitch his breath, simply because the vague implication, the sharp edge of pain shadowed by the lucid movement and press of those fingers a welcome distraction from all thought in his head.

His own hands continued to circle on Tommy’s hips, traced over the dip of his lower back, followed his spine and the curve and contour of his ribs beneath that lithe application of muscle tone.

“Tommy,” he repeated, amazed at how this creature could leave him breathless, thoughtless, and utterly willing to please him.

There was much Tommy struggled to piece together about Noh, or rather, struggled to accept. Bloodlust, his moral code born from not just being a Kree, the smile that stained his face as much as Anthony’s blood. What bloomed in the Kree’s eyes now, bright as any star as far as Tommy was concerned, all that he understood and soaked it into his bones.

Again Tommy’s nails scraped, this time in the sensitive bundle of nerves coating Noh’s naval, over his hips, and down his outer thighs. One hand left Noh’s body, the other still abusing the flesh, and grabbed the Kree’s erection. Tommy was in no mind to stroke him, to pull out a sweet orgasm with time and patience.

Instead, he hoisted his hips up, positioning Noh’s erection. He made sure the Kree’s eyes were all on him, every nerve in the alien a mechanism with the purpose of watching and feeling Tommy.

One silent intake of breath and Tommy sank down, impaling himself to the hilt without so much as a preamble and no break until he was as far down as his body could endure.

The Kree let it happen, didn’t consider participating in this thing that was all Tommy, the speedster set the pace, set the mood, Noh-Varr more of an instrument to his pleasure at this point.

But that did nothing to abate the heat, the ever-lasting command of this situation between them. Once Tommy had...taken all of him up into himself, Noh let out breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He sought Tommy’s gaze, clung to it with all his might and all of his unstable core. He didn’t need anything more than the presence of this one, insane, beautiful young man. And the thought of that was utterly...illogical. Irrational. He’d been behaving so human lately, it frightened something inside of him enough to break his self-control. 

But this was what he gained. This beautiful experience that Tommy gave to him, so willingly, needed it himself...Codependency was an entirely abstract, grotesque concept to Kree but right now, he threw himself into it.

“I love you,” he muttered, to himself more than the glorious creature on top of him, the one he gently motioned into a light rhythm on his hips.

Tommy rode the motion, hands finding purchase on Noh-Varr’s biceps.

“I love you,” he said back, beneath a whisper, yet powerful in its effect nonetheless.

The squeeze he offered to Noh’s muscles was the sole preamble he supplied. Next, he was grinding, hips lifting and slamming back down, his entire body undulating with each impale. The burn was welcomed this time with open arms, barring out the old pain that wouldn’t stop brewing inside of Tommy.

Chills licked through his body, replaced by hot fingers that had Tommy pitching between the two, not caring which sensation,inner or outside stimulus, was responsible for it. The universe ceased existing beyond the room, Noh-Varr his sun.

Tommy let all the sound spill out of him, some low like moans and grunts, other sharp and shameless, like the cries that had his head tip forward or fall back. Everything gravitated back to the motion of his hips moving and the unique sensation of being full, so full maybe his anxieties and malaise would dribble out and forever be gone.

Soon though, what sense of control he had riding Noh-Varr ended with a strangled cry as something deep was struck, had him pinching his eyes tight and leaning forward, nails digging into Noh’s arms. He was drowning with sensory overload again, like that first time, and he wanted it, wanted to let go of thinking, of his brain processing information when he wanted to rest and shut down.

Through it all, as the ferocity of his body escalated, he couldn’t stop panting, shouting, begging in the form of Noh-Varr’s name.

The sounds pouring out of Tommy were better than music in his ears. Noh listened and tried to remember, tried to take a perfect record of what Tommy looked, sounded and felt like, what flavour the thick haze of pleasure the room was shrouded in tasted like...

All of this was his anchor, his center. This was what he wanted in life, this was why he was on Earth. Not for the sake of the Young Avengers, or the old Avengers, or any other human but the gorgeous one he was buried inside of. At some point, their moans bled together, their bodies joined in one, perfect rhythm and there was nothing between them, they existed as just one entity and Noh-Varr felt his absolute content as his orgasm washed over every inch of him. The Kree gave himself into it, barely needed to hear that Tommy too was at his climax as both of them rode out the pleasure with one another, the world long lost to both of them.

Tommy collapsed to his chest and Noh let his eyes slide halfway closed, still gazing at his lover, but with a soothing, grounded feeling he should have realized much, much sooner.

*

Being a small-time criminal wasn’t such a big deal back in the day for Tommy. Being a fugitive over more than a couple of felonies with a superhero team(s) trailing your ass was. Tommy felt it every morning the last few days waking up.

First came the waft of Noh’s scent, his warmth, the peace Tommy found in his heartbeat. Then, Tommy would have to peel away, as much as he rather glue himself to the spot and see how long they could lie in bed before bodily demands took over. Or someone found them.

The following morning of their first night at the place found Tommy on the second floor balcony, fidgeting as he placed a call to Kate. The other option had been Teddy, but he didn’t doubt Billy would be at his hip as usual and snatch the phone away.

The conversation had been tense, but Tommy found some old comfort in Kate’s voice, and allowed that to drive him to confess he was going to work things out. He understood Noh couldn’t just be overlooked nor could they overlook Tommy’s escape with him. Time, the bane of a speedster’s existence, is what Tommy needed. Just a little. To think. After all, he owed Noh-Varr that much, right?

He had hung up without allowing her to probe about his whereabouts, and there was a layer of relief over the pile of shit that was Tommy’s predicament. At least his team didn’t have to freak out over whether or not Noh had kidnapped him, or maybe killed him.

Then, came the blur of the next couple of days.

For all the thinking Tommy insisted he would do, not much resulted from it, which was saying much given the enormous amount of thinking his brain was capable of handling at a time. Most of the time he felt the bulk of his mind’s function was to repress other things, like Anthony’s blood on his hands, the hate still fermenting within Noh, the ‘what now’ of their relationship, the suspicions Tommy had.

It was day four and Tommy was still on that loop, sitting on a bench on the patio. The house was tucked into the wilderness, overlooking a lake. From what Tommy gathered as a child, it was a vacation home that now had Mother Nature tending to it, seen in the crooked roof or withering wallpaper. Blemishes aside, Tommy accepted it as a piece of heaven for them, where it was just the two of them, the lake, and the mountains looking less denticulated with all the snow bleeding into the white clouds.

His relationship with Noh-Varr consisted of a lot of physical contact now. The things that had to be aired, shared, yelled about, hadn’t come. It was difficult to even dissect what was to be done with the two of them when Noh’s presence was a constant presence at the back of his neck. Even when Tommy got out of the shower, sometimes he’d find the Kree standing in the bathroom, waiting, or right outside the door.

Tommy sighed and rubbed his face. He needed to get out. He needed to run and just…run away from plotting, general thinking, from Noh’s side. There was no trickle of doubt that Tommy’s love ran deep for the Kree. He loved him, and it was still a scary feeling to acknowledge that. That didn’t mean he wanted to be drowning in Noh’s shadow. It was as if the Kree honestly believed someone would snatch Tommy up or that every person was a threat to his lover.

“Noh,” he called, not breaking away from the sight of the sun’s colors suffusing into sky. “I’m going out. We need some supplies and I can get them quickly. You should lay low here. Last thing we need is someone recognizing you.”

Noh-Varr spent every second of his time close to Tommy, trailing after him through the house, when he went outside, even when he pointedly shut a door in the Kree’s face. It didn’t matter. 

He’d had time to think, because despite Tommy’s natural privilege of digesting everything faster, thoughts included, the speedster had not initiated one conversation, not a single time had they lashed out at one another like they should. The proverbial barrel was bursting with heavy-handed emotion laying in wait to become an unstoppable disaster, an eruption of anger to destroy the delicate threads their relationship was hanging in.

And Noh clung to the desperate notion that his pure presence would suffocate such a release in Tommy. Their confrontation could be prevented and his logic dictated he should do so, it was of paramount importance, personal comfort put aside. Close to Tommy, the speedster didn’t have the time and room to push him away.

Tommy was his center, Tommy was his reason, and Tommy said nothing. Noh-Varr teetered on an edge, unknowing of how close he came to an abyss of a vicious, endless cycle, fuelled by his hate and guided by his anger.

“I could stay out of sight. Your face is well-known, someone could recognize you just as easily.”

Tommy inhaled smoothly and blew out the urge to snap his jaws as a response. Amidst the turbulence of Tommy’s mind, he had one suspicion bloated fatter than all the others, that Noh-Varr was purposely hounding him to force a reaction, anything that would rattle Tommy out of his eerie silence and staring at the lake.

“No, Noh-Varr,” he said. “You need to stay here. They won’t recognize me in this part, not yet. I’m faster anyway, and I know what it is we need. For all I know you’d just come back with a trash can.”

The jab at humor shriveled before its impact could be made. Tommy was out of touch with his good humor apparently. 

The Kree didn’t laugh at Tommy’s poor jab, didn’t even raise a smile on his lips which seemed to permeate another scowl or confused frown.

“I know you cannot digest trash, and I can carry more. If they won’t recognize you they won’t recognize me...I can be very stealthy.”

This wasn’t about going on the grocery run with Tommy anymore. This was about sticking to his plan of not leaving Tommy the chance to realize how much better off he was away from Noh, sticking close enough so Tommy still had the prize in front of him.

Not that Noh thought he was that much of a prize, but it had motivated Tommy in the past.

Tommy scrubbed his face harder and groaned. Memories pounded against their restraints at the remark of stealth. One hand lurched through the bars and seized Tommy’s attention.

That’s right. 

Leaping to his feet, Tommy whirled on him, eyes narrowed.

“You.” He pointed at the alien. “You’ve been following me. You were following me. At school, everywhere. That’s how you found me at the warehouse.” Another fact trailed at the heels of that thought. “Did you get fired from work? Was that what those calls were about? You were missing work and stalking me like a kid?”

There was no venom to his voice, it barely coming out through gasps. Tommy didn’t want to believe that Noh-Varr had lied to his face after all that talk about being open with one another.

“Look at me and tell me the truth. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. I want the fucking truth, Noh.”

That was definitely not what he’d intended. With everything that happened, he assumed Tommy had dismissed the prior events, trusted him to just know when Tommy needed his aid and most of all, Noh-Varr thought that speedster would forget and forgive, despite of their previous conversations.

The Kree found something interesting to look at, followed the path of a very, very distant kin, an American cockroach, crawling and scrabbling over the porch of the house back into the safety of a nest.

He’d like to have a nest to crawl into right now too, one that didn’t await him with impending doom. 

“I needed to know you were safe. I can’t trust anyone who behaves oddly around you or shows intensive interest. The alternative would have been a tracking, floating camera device...”

Tommy opened his mouth, flabbergasted. Hearing the confession set alarms off inside him, had his skin fall cold, and his stomach fall into his feet. The anger nudged itself closer, and with will Tommy swatted aside, feeling as though he had no strength for it.

“Noh,” he said, but his voice was becoming as cold as his skin felt, “I understand you want to protect me. I do. I want to do the same for you. But one, I’ve been on my own long before you showed up and got out of worst scrapes than you can really imagine. Two,” his fists clenched hard at his sides, “you lied to me. I asked you, practically begged you to not keep lies from me. Yet you--”

Tommy went slack a moment, blinking rapidly as more gears worked something out. “Wait, wait,” he said. “If you lost your job doing that, where was all the money coming from? You were bringing money in.”

“It was necessary, you did not want the truth that required executing,” Noh defended the lies he’d spun to keep Tommy happy. He should have deepened them, should never have let Tommy know he was capable of great deceit despite being a logical and honest creature.

“I,” the question as to where his finances came from where a little less...enraging, but rather confusing. Did Tommy accuse him of stealing? Of appropriating resources he had no right to?

“I earned money with a different work...during your classes. I removed clothing in front of an audience, a much more lucrative business.”

The laugh that escaped Tommy was a mockery of amusement, dry and teeming with hysteria. This was his life. His alien boyfriend, now turned murderer in the eyes of his teammates, had been stalking him for who knew how long like a two-year old and kept the money flowing by becoming a stripper.

“You were fucking stripping?!” The scream wasn’t nearly enough to capture Tommy’s mental state at the admission.

He forced himself to spin away, not look at Noh. He tugged hard on his hair, as if that could yank out all the weeds for ugly thoughts crawling and growing inside him. This was not how this was supposed to work, this was not how their relationship survived. Noh had a very, very misguided understanding of what it meant to be a couple.

Tommy whirled on him again. “I,” he shut his mouth a moment, then exclaimed to the skies, unleashing a paroxysm of his frustration and ire. “I don’t even know what to say first! Fuck, Noh, you can’t just fucking stalk me! I’m not a child. I can’t even...you lied to me! Do you think I’m so fucking helpless then? Is that what it is? I’m such a fucking idiot that I need you to lie because you think that’s how you help me?

“Well it’s not! I’ve put up with shit all my life, from my mother, from the people I thought were friends, from cops, scientists, therapists, psychiatrists, and I’m fucking sure as hell not taking that from you, Noh-Varr. I will not be treated like I’m a fucking idiot, even if you think I’m so naive and have to be locked in a goddamn cage with you guarding the only key!”

He felt both coyed and challenged by Tommy’s tone and words. He was breaking something loose in the speedster and he had a feeling there was no restraining it again once set in motion. Not to mention he had not said anything about keeping Tommy contained. He just wanted to be there and close enough in case something happened. Which, from experience, had been a logical choice, given Tommy’s record in their time together.

“I learned my lesson at the party, Tommy,” he argued, “I left when I should have stayed. It is not you I do not trust, it is the world around you. Because you are not invincible, Tommy, and you can be broken and hurt and I would not know what to live for without you anymore.”

“Fuck, Noh!” Tommy rushed over and bunched up his hands in the Kree’s shirt, just to give his hands something to do that wasn’t punch the ribs of the house. “I know. I know, okay? But you’re thinking all humans are a huge threat when they really aren’t! I can’t handle you just following me around, Noh, because you are saying I’m helpless if you have to follow me around! And you can’t just kill. I know you’re not from around here, but neither can you jump in and throw down your morality, your sense of justice on people who maybe really didn’t deserve it.”

The rush of his words was spilling without restriction, and Tommy knew he couldn’t stop it. He clung harder to the Kree’s shirt.

“I’ve been broken more than once before, Noh,” he went on, “and I can heal myself just fine on my own. I fucking would go crazy without you, but I can’t feel like I am now. I feel trapped. I feel like you’re suffocating me following me around everywhere so you’re going to fucking sit down please and let me go get what we need, a little fresh air, and then we can talk about how you can’t be lying to me anymore!”

“This is not sufficient Tommy Shepherd!” Noh loomed over Tommy, head no longer ducked and there was anger in his chest, puffing it outward as he gathered breath to share his opinion as freely as Tommy just did all the time.

“My care has proven essential to your health already and I am justified to say humans are NOT trustworthy. Your only flaw is that you keep hoping for them to be! You keep trusting humans, just like you trusted that fucking filth Anthony, even when I questioned you as to why and you could not give me logical answer! You keep putting yourself in danger and I cannot stand by and let you. I don’t know how many times you’ve been broken Tommy, but there comes a point where you can’t heal yourself, when no one can heal you and all that remains is finding a reason to even stay alive in the first place! I won’t let you be broken anymore, why don’t you understand that I love you?!”

“I do!” Tommy shoved at his chest, knowing it did nothing to widen the miniscule gap between them. “Why don’t you understand that you’re going to the extreme! Stalking is not part of a relationship and I should be allowed to walk around by myself without you breathing down my neck or threatening to break some guy’s neck just because we had a bad experience!”

He stepped back finally, chest heaving. “I love you, Noh,” he said, voice low. “But I need to get some fucking air without you following me. I’m going out for supplies. I’m going to think and maybe figure out what the fuck has to be done now about you insisting on lying to me.”

With that, he navigated around, intending to stomp right back inside and to the door.

*  
He wasn’t going to stand for this. This was going all sorts of wrong and Noh wasn’t going to sit here and let it destroy the only thing he cared about; his relationship with Tommy. It was at stake, because this planet was too corrupt and filthy. It needed to be cleansed. There was no other way to go about it, a necessity befitting his intelligence. If he ever wanted a nice life where he didn’t have to impede on Tommy’s personal freedom and his integrity as a boyfriend, he would have to remove the sources of his irritation, the corrupt and foul stench festering on Earth’s surface.

Only then did the planet, humanity and his relationship stand a chance. He was going to drag this world into the light, kicking and screaming.

He considered leaving Tommy a note, grabbed a pen and some paper and froze. How was he supposed to put everything in words? The speedster wouldn’t understand, he wasn’t enlightened by their previous discussions and he would not be so now.

Best to just not explain all the steps he was going to take and leave him the important message. The pen touched paper and idled, ink staining the white expanse as the Kree tried to figure out how to word his emotions.

His departure was rapid after that, every crumb of technology he’d fiddled with in the past four days and modified in his possession and nothing leaving any evidence of his physical presence.

The piece of paper featured a large ink stain and four scribbled out begun sentences.

In the end, he’d only left the ‘I will work things out. I love you Tommy. This will be far enough.’

The trip to the market was uneventful in terms of sorting out problems. Too many occupied every nook and cranny of Tommy’s mind, logic and sense buried somewhere beneath. When Tommy began untangling one issue, another, bigger one hooked itself into the mess and Tommy started over. An endless cycle.

Fresh air hardly grazed the surface of Tommy’s woes. Constantly glancing around for signs of Noh, Tommy saw nothing of his boyfriend, and accepted the respite. He could breathe a little more, but not any better. His anger, he realized while grabbing a carton of milk, matched Noh’s. There was rage and injustice and nastier things buried in them both that made their words clipped and frosty when they blew up at one another.

Tommy, a hypocrite it seemed. Yet how could he convince Noh-Varr that humans deserved a chance? It wasn’t easy, not when the rage Noh-Varr burdened himself with stemmed from years of agony, the kind no one could fix for him. Not being able to rid Noh of that anger, accepting his love was not enough to do the job alone, had Tommy treading back home with a heavy heart.

Feeling useless was not in his repertoire of skills. There he dragged on though, useless, stuck in a loop, trapped in knots he had made by thinking he could solve the problems on his own and somehow keep his pain stuffed in its cage where it was never to escape.

When he arrived ‘home’, he thought to tame his tempter for the sake of their relationship. Maybe they could figure something out if they collaborated instead of butt heads.

“Noh,” he said softly as he entered, swallowing. “I’m back. In one piece.”

Again, the humor fell dry.

It was quiet.

No, silent.

Quiet meant some kind of tranquility. The home was not that, instead better befitting a crypt.

Tommy’s heart raced and he dropped the bags, zipping around. He didn’t have to go far, spotting the paper. He frowned at it, repeated it, again and again.

Everything fell out from under him.

“Noh,” he said, fingers trembling. “No, no, no…”

He didn’t believe it. He rushed around the home, tore through the wilderness, maneuvered the city.

Noh was gone. Nothing.

Tommy screeched to a halt by the lake, staring at the surface, which mirrored the mountains in the distance. He stared at it, but found nothing beautiful about it. Noh had left. He was gone. He was going to work things out. Tommy felt ill to his stomach, somehow knowing, not wanting to know all the same, that humanity was about to feel the might of Noh-Varr.

Tommy had started the very thing he had set out to prevent.


	12. Chapter 12

Oh, the world was going to feel the wrath of the singular Kree alright. The first thing Noh had done was to find himself a base of operations and supply himself with all he needed. In his case, that meant breaking into various high-tech labs, military facilities and government research programmes around the globe. He mostly chose Europe and Asia, found both of these world parts the easiest to traverse and navigate. He wanted as much distance between himself and Tommy as possible.

Until the world was enlightened, he would not dare show himself to his boyfriend. Tommy would be angry, but proud if Noh did this as he imagined. First, take out the scum. Cleanse the streets, eradicate the need for police forces, military and even superheroes, because for the world to reach the zen-perfect state to echo the Kree society, supervillains and corrupt world leaders and no place in life anymore. 

Weeks went by, a month, two. Two long months before Noh-Varr made a real move. Not in New York, but in Las Vegas. Which he decided needed to be levelled, though he encountered the Young Masters of Evil enjoying their time there. 

The fight made it to national television within minutes, footage of the Kree, now with a rudimentary battle armoured he’d obviously devised himself fighting the young, loose group of ambivalent teens, none of whom were ginger about killing their enemy. And yet, they weren’t winning.

“This new threat hasn’t made a statement about his intent...could we be witnessing the rise of a new supervillain?” the reporter was tucked behind an armoured car as the camera fed the world the images of the fight.

Two months.

Though Billy had never labeled Tommy as emotional, at least in public, or harboring the kind of mood swings becoming of someone who needed attention, doubts percolated in his mind now. Two months it had been, a little less than that when Tommy dragged himself back to HQ.

The image of the speedster haunted Billy to this day, eyes so distant, shoulders drooping with a burden he refused to let go of, looking so…tired. Everyone had rushed to him, and Teddy had caught the speedster before his face met the hard ground. Even after Tommy’s quick recovery, they didn’t need to ask to know what must have happened.

Kate had anyway, had spoken to Tommy in privacy. Out of all of them, she had the highest probability of coaxing some words from the speedster. Billy couldn’t help feel envious that the bond those two had was stronger than what he and Tommy should have had as sort-of brothers.

Well, didn’t matter. Noh was MIA. Bad news.

Tommy had behaved as if his heart had been stolen out from his chest, wandering around with little emotion, driven by a goal to hunt down his boyfriend. Billy had tried locating the Kree, but whether it was his constant movement or something else, he could never get a good reading where the alien was.

Cap had been less than pleased; Tommy was officially on suspension, and Billy didn’t think he could look more wilted. No one could console him, say the words to mold over the frayed edges of his sanity.

Billy was wrong about Tommy looking worse.

Two months and they were at the Kaplan home, watching television because hell, Tommy needed some normalcy, some schedule even if he didn’t want it.

Breaking news.

Tommy, otherwise a bump on the couch, shot straight up where he sat, eyes bulging.

“It’s him,” Teddy said from behind them, gripping the lip of the couch. “Supervillain?”

“He’s not a villain,” Tommy said, one of the few things he said all day. “He’s not.”

“He’s killing them,” Billy exclaimed, then winced as the live camera captured a gruesome scene. “Tommy, look. You have to see what he’s doing. You say he’s doing this for you, but this is beyond you now.”

Tommy was already bolting up and Teddy’s strength held him down.

“You can’t face him!” Teddy’s eyes went wide too. “That’s crazy. You’re already in deep with the Avengers, what would they say seeing you there?”

“I have to talk to him!”

“It’s too late, Tommy,” Billy said. “He’s going to purge the world. You know that. You have to stay here. I’m sure Cap is aware and we’ll go see what to do.”

Tommy wheeled on him. “So what? I have to fucking sit here and wait like a damn wife or something?”

Billy met his dark glower. “Yes. You tried your way. Stay here. Or else.” 

Noh-Varr was enjoying this. The ragtag bunch of villainous teens were throwing everything they could at him, and it was no enough. He handled them with the ease befitting his status as a superior creature. Another blast, and Coat of Arms was down, crumpling over the form of Melter and conscious bleeding from her as her wounds took their toll. The city around them was in flames, humans screaming, cowering, fleeing. Sure, there were many innocent lives here, he wouldn’t nuke the place, that was counter productive.

The news crew was one of the few groups too terrified to move, cowering by their van, but cameras still rolling with that human persistency, that dangerous thirst for knowledge even beyond their grasp. Perfect. He was going to send a message. To humanity, to those that deemed themselves worthy to protect them and to those would destroy the world for their own good.

He strolled over with the confidence of the victor as the cameraman wilted into a petrified child, the simple device still capturing Noh. 

“Earth...Humans. I am Noh-Varr, of the Kree Empire and I have a message for you. You are unfit to live on this planet, a disgrace to your evolution. But fear not. I have plans for you, all of you. I will level your corrupt systems, I will purge you of those that inhibit the growth of your people for their own gain. I will lead you into a bright new world your insignificant minds cannot comprehend. The Kree way is supreme. Embrace your new future, or perish at my hands.”

“Jesus,” Teddy breathed. “He’s serious.”

They were at HQ now, waiting word on what Cap and the others had formulated in terms of a plan. Eli was pacing with directionless frustration, insisting they could confront Noh now that they weren’t limited by Tommy’s affections to teach the Kree a lesson of what happens when you try to purge the world in an alien empire’s name.

“We can’t,” Kate said, arms crossed, watching the screen. “If we show up, he’ll prove his point and not hesitate to beat us like he’s done before.”

“You think he’d kill us?” asked Cassie.

“I don’t think he wants that but he might if he thought he had no alternative.”

“It seems he’s keen on not finding alternatives,” Eli shot from the back.

Kate glanced at Billy. “How is he?”

Billy shook his head. “Not much better. I don’t think he wants to believe Noh is doing all this.”

“Uh, guys.” Teddy pointed a clawed finger.

They refocused their attention on the screen, and a collective gasp and/or groan went through the group.

The hell if Tommy was going to stay still. Las Vegas was a good ways away, no trouble for a speedster though. He hadn’t adorned his Speed outfit, not wanting to call too much attention to himself, and then realized it probably didn’t matter.

His civies were especially made, and they tolerated the travel across the desert, through the heft shadows of mountains. Then, he saw the beacon from a hotel, followed by the bloom of the rest of the lights Las Vegas was renowned for.

Its brilliance was only outmatched by the fires dancing through the town, its dark smoke swallowed by the darkness of the desert sky. Tommy made the innocents a priority. He rushed through, scooping up, guiding out, barking orders, everything and anything to assemble control where the authorities failed.

At the least, a survey told him Noh-Varr had not intended to target them. That didn’t make him feel better, less so when he stumbled to a stop, finding Noh in the distance, speaking to a camera.

With all the agony fueling the sound, Tommy screamed his name. 

Satisfied with his announcement to the world, Noh-Varr dropped the camera and the man holding it, though the poor human had fainted the moment the Kree was within arm’s reach.

The voice screaming his name reverberated right through him and he went stiff. No. Tommy shouldn’t be here. He should, at the very least, still be with his team in New York, plotting how to stop him or something. He should not be here. The Kree turned, saw the familiar face that made his heart soar and his mind wilt. Was the speedster here to fight him on the behalf of humanity? Or was he here to bring his boyfriend to heel?

Neither was going to succeed. The Kree put his helmet, a weird, alien shape on his form, back in place, lowered the visor so at least his view was obscured of the clear rage on Tommy’s face. He hid behind the calculations his computer made for him, the assessment of Tommy’s current speed and strength and durability. He ignored the output suggesting the fracture of the speedster’s legs in order to disable him. 

Noh-Varr switched his gauntlets to their regular shape, awaited Tommy’s tirade or flurry of punches with baited breath. 

Tommy watched, awash with the severity of the circumstances as Noh-Varr tucked back into his helmet. No doubt it was laced with technology, advising him the best way to take down a speedster. A tingle spread through Tommy’s legs.

Ignoring it, Tommy stepped forward, taking measured steps to the Kree, wary that rushing at him may be taken as a sign of aggression.

He stopped when they were scant feet apart.

“Noh,” he said, and he hated how his voice cracked, eyes burning but not yet dribbling tears. “I was looking everywhere for you. I was so…afraid someone had taken you. All this time you were,” he could only gesture at the ‘purging’ around them. “I don’t know if I’m happier or more upset.”

He searched through the visor. “The people you kill and…will kill, they had a past like mine, you know,” he was rambling, albeit not as quickly as usual, grasping for anything to talk about that would keep Noh-Varr here with him and not off on a tirade or in a cell. “I might have become like that. Circumstances and society build monsters. Would you have killed me if I took a turn for the worse and became the kind of human you despised? The kind of human so hurt that he could only hurt others back? Because it doesn’t matter how many you kill, there will never be a utopia with humans around. Including me.” 

“No, you are mistaken,” Noh kept the visor down, he didn’t want to Tommy to see the myriad of emotion bleeding into his gaze as his core softened, screamed to be soothed in Tommy’s embrace, wanted his praise and love and affection and not this disappointment and pain. But he’d chosen this path and he could not back down from his cause now. He’d screamed his name too loudly on the edge of the world, had called for a war he wouldn’t survive if he didn’t put all of himself into it.

“I will make this world better. I will tear down everything that rots and corrupts, I will give your species the chance to see another way, outside of the barbaric manner in which you’ve lived. I will not abide this infection anymore. No one will have to suffer once I am done. No one will be hurt like you were anymore...No one will feel the need to lash out and cause harm. You have to see....you have to know that I can do this. I can change this world. And I want you to be with me, hala, as you are supposed to be. I want you beside me when I lead humanity into a better life and a worthy existence.”

Tommy’s expression trembled, and he had to press his lips together to keep the quiver from reaching his lips. Hearing Noh’s words, so sure and firm, it was a comfort, disregarding what they meant. How easy it would be to stand proud alongside Noh, to see him rid the world of the misery it seemed incapable of recovering from.

For a moment, Tommy indulged in the image of that, at his Kree’s side as he put down by force what no one had accomplished. Really, how much did Tommy sneer at the way the Avengers and other superheros’ moral codes? Plenty. He was from the bad end of town, and knew leaving it to the system would spit out a better trained criminal, would traumatize them even.

That rotten core in so many people would always exist because they were human. Maybe it was time for a change, for someone to enforce peace and show them how good the world could be if they just submitted.

Tommy smiled at Noh-Varr gently, reaching out and resting his palms on the helmet.

“I love you,” he said, forgetting the mess and what his team must be concocting at that very moment. “I love you more than humanity, I think. More than being a superhero.”

The dream withered and Tommy let his hands slip off the helmet. “And because of that, I can’t bear to see you do this. It’s not going to—“

Tommy didn’t see it himself as much as that ever-working mechanism did, a radar going off in fraction of a second that someone was creeping up.

All Tommy knew was he was speaking, and then lunging forward and up, his speed driving up the momentum he needed to knock Noh-Varr out of the way. In that moment of time crossing by slowly, Tommy saw the blast, the gleam of Iron Man’s uniform in the distance.

Then it was all searing hot and cold, and he was a heap on the floor, clutching his legs, feeling blood drenching his hands, not knowing the screams of pain were coming from him.

His heart, keening for Tommy’s touch and approval, nearly burst from his chest at those words, then stuttered at the ones that followed. What did his lover mean, why would he-

The world was turbulent for three breaths, then it stilled once more, deafened by Tommy’s pain and Noh ripped the visor up from where he’d tumbled to the ground when Tommy smashed into him. His beloved was on the floor and there was crimson on him, on his legs, on his hands...

Noh-Varr exploded into an emotion he’d never felt more strongly than at this moment. It was a roar of fury mixed with agony as he whirled to find his enemy. Whoever had dared to....the Avengers. In all their cold, distant glory, they were coming for him, right now. He saw Iron Man, he heard Thor’s bellow in the sky. 

The Kree only had heartbeats to act and he bolted for Tommy, gauntlets shifting. Without a word, he aimed at his beloved’s legs, a green liquid oozing out of the muzzle of a weird looking gun. It should soothe his pain and stabilize the wounds, should at least allow the speedster to move.

“Get out of here hala.”

The next blast from Iron Man struck Noh-Varr square in the back, and the Kree knew he was out of time. He could not wish Tommy farewell and though he wanted to promise he would survive, wanted to have the confidence in his tactics and tech to be secure in his victory, this was too sudden. He launched himself into battle.

For an eternity there was nothing but pain, and then horror trailed in at processing it was his legs that had taken the worst of the blow. Noh’s voice filtered in, there was a flurry of movement, both near Tommy and beyond his blurred vision.

Get out? Tommy didn’t compute the words until the pain subsided, at least enough that he could tap into his senses. His stomach wanted to empty on the cement. With effort he pushed it back down and struggled to a stand.

Pain didn’t radiate up his joints like he thought. Whatever it was coating them was at least keeping the tip of the agony at bay and stabilized him enough to not, hopefully, risk infection or worse. Still, Tommy could only manage a hobble as he staggered away, needing to catch his breath.

He didn’t dare look at the state of his legs, petrified what would await his sight. There was no way he wanted to face thinking how long he was going to be out of commission.

There was a roar and Tommy cried out, shielding his head as debris scattered around. A battle broke out. The Avengers.

“Noh!” His shout drowned in Thor’s hammering blow to the side of a building, having missed Noh-Varr a good two feet.

“Tommy!”

The speedster jerked his head around, saw Billy and Teddy diving toward him.

“What—“

“Idiot!” Billy’s voice didn’t have enough anger in it to faze Tommy. He looked pale. “We’re getting you out of here.”

“Noh-Varr—“

“No,” Teddy said. “You can’t help him now.”

Tommy grunted when he was lifted up into plated arms, feeling his legs protest at the movement. He couldn’t so much as pummel Teddy’s face to get away. He looked out, finding Noh-Varr as a blurred form.

“If I go,” he said to his teammates, “I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”

Neither Billy or Teddy answered, remaining silent in acknowledgment as Billy’s magic teleported them the hell out of the battle zone.

The battle was far more challenging than facing down the Young Masters. The Avengers were a battle hardened, experienced team of tough opponents and Noh-Varr was beginning to see that it might have been foolish to challenge them so openly without an armada at his back. Iron Man and Thor, powerhouses so to say, would be difficult to manage. He couldn’t go to ground, Captain America scouring the street and apparently waiting to tear into him. But he could handle them, as long as...

A blur, a fist and a blast and Noh-Varr acquainted himself intimately with concrete. 

“You’re way out of line boy, and I am going to put you down for this.”

Carol Danvers was all business and absolutely not amused. Noh-Varr didn’t need his calculations to know a tactical retreat was his only chance right now. He only had an angry team complete with deity and powers way beyond his own, even beyond his tech to deal with.

But he wouldn’t be Noh-Varr if he didn’t have a strategy, even if it was for something as cowardly as escape. The portal was small and quickly constructed and he was through it before the angered superheroes of Earth could touch him again.

He didn’t know why he’d chosen this place to return to, but he stumbled into the comforting zone of his old apartment, his home with Tommy, the only place on Earth he’d ever felt comfortable in. It was cold and empty and dusty by now, but the scent of memories lingered and soothed the Kree as he stripped out of critically damaged armour.

Fuck. He was going to...have to think of something. A giant weapon? A transdimensional portal? Maybe a virus to clean out Earth without him lifting a finger? 

His mind should have been on any of those, but instead, it was on Tommy. The Kree fished out a phone, a crude device, and he punched in the familiar number. He tried not to linger on the absurd picture he gave right now.

Miles away, worlds even, Billy and the others made a spectacle of themselves in the waiting room of a hospital. Well as much as a spectacle a hospital would allow. They’d wheeled Tommy in forever ago, when the speedster’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he turned so gray panic clawed down Billy and Teddy.

Billy had supplied what he could with his magic. With the strange substance Noh-Varr had discharged to contain the injuries, the mage had been too doubtful of his abilities to help Tommy without causing further damage. If nothing else, he was kicking himself to hell and back about it.

“You tried, Billy,” Teddy said, claw cupping his shoulder.

Scrubbing his face, Billy exhaled. “I should have just tried to do it myself. I panicked and...”

“I know.” Teddy did know, too well how wary Billy was about healing with his magic. It didn’t always end well. What would you expect from a novice superhero, even one with grand powers?

“He’s going to need physical therapy,” Kate said. She hadn’t stopped staring at the double doors where the surgeon would stride through. “To be honest, I’m kind of glad you didn’t use your magic.”

“What? Why?”

She sighed and rubbed her neck, just as weary as the rest of them though they hadn’t engaged Noh-Varr in battle. “He needs to wake up, needs to realize he’s going about things the wrong way. Tommy runs away from his problems.”

“We saw him try to talk Noh-Varr out of it.”

“Talking isn’t what the Kree listen to,” Eli said, eyes pointedly on Teddy. “You should know that better than anyone. They’re not exactly the understanding type.”

“What then?” Billy said, a bit more curt than he meant it. The anger and turmoil had to direct itself somewhere. “He has to fight Noh-Varr himself?”

Eli shrugged, the gesture looking like he was trying to lift a boulder off his shoulder. “Maybe.”

“He can’t even use his legs now,” Cassie said. She was more occupied looking at the tiled floors. “At least, not for a while.”

“It’ll be the wakeup call he needs,” Kate went on. “He’ll recover. His abilities will make sure of that. Until then, he’ll have to face everything he represses.”

No one doubted her words. She was the closest thing to a Tommy de-riddler than any other human or mutant. They shared a moment to be grateful. Were it not for the injuries Tommy sustained, Cap would have considered locking him up for security purposes, both for the speedster and others. Apparently his infatuation with Noh-Varr wasn’t viewed lightly anymore.

Granted, he wouldn’t be put in a cell. House arrest had been the term Cap used, but Billy could already fathom the bad all that would do to Tommy’s already stretched-thin mind.

A phone vibrated. Everyone tensed.

Teddy plucked the device out of Billy’s hand, which had been squeezing it since they brought Tommy here. At the unknown number flashing on the screen, Teddy stood up and palmed the phone into Kate’s hand.

Already she was half-standing, navigating outside the hospital where the reception was better. The waiting room was the only area that allowed for phones, but the chill of the night was better suited for whoever was on the other line. Kate had a good idea.

She swiped her thumb over the screen to accept the call.

“He’s in surgery. Don’t hang up,” she added quickly. “Hear me out. I have a lot to say. I know you are angry with us. Tommy will be okay with some months thanks to what you did. Billy couldn’t do much with his magic though and, well. Listen, if it weren’t for his legs being useless for a while now, Cap was going to basically strap him down before he really hurts himself.”

She allowed a respite to draw in some air. “He can’t chase after you now, Noh-Varr. He’s not doing well, inside or out. If Tommy couldn’t convince you to stop, I know I can’t, but...whatever you do, whatever rampage you go off on,” she tightened her voice, “I hope you realize that Tommy’s love for you is real, and it scares us that it is, but you’ll really see it when you’re at your worst, Noh-Varr, when you see all this purging you’re doing won’t stop that hate inside you, just as Tommy’s hate and pain won’t stop just because he wraps it up in the feelings he has for you. Understand that we know Tommy’s found that rare thing people look for all their lives,” she shut her eyes and inhaled, “but the next time we see you, we will be obligated to be your enemies.”

He’d just about crushed his phone when he heard Kate’s voice on the other line instead of the one he ached for. Doubly so when Kate told him that Tommy was in need of serious medical attention. Noh-Varr barely quelled his need to rush to his lover’s side, he knew too painfully well that he was to blame for Tommy’s injury. Of his legs, no less. There were few things that Tommy cared for as much as his gift and to think he’d enabled the injury...It dented Noh’s armour, but he paid attention to the woman on the other end of the line and what she had to say.

What she said made sense, and at the same time, she was so unbelievably wrong. Yes, he knew he was anything but a good association for Tommy right now. Yes, he knew that the Young Avengers would stand against him and would defend the same antiquated, barbaric cycle humanity was spiralling down the drain in. And he would fight them until they stood against him no longer. The only reason they mattered was because they meant something to Tommy. His only concern in this world was his lover’s safety...and it was, to him, deeply logical to adapt the Earth to suit his need for Tommy’s security. Why couldn’t anyone understand that he was cleansing an infected wound, clearing an infestation of human lives that suffocated those that would further the species?

“...Kate Bishop, never doubt my love for Tommy runs as deeply as his affection for me. He is the very reason I have decided that this is the way to go about life on Earth. Humans have done nothing but hurt him, use him, chew him up and spit him out worse off than he was before. I cannot abide by that. Tommy Shepherd is my world, my hala and I would die so he may live in a better world. If you stand against me, I will force you to kneel. No matter how many Avengers you bring, I will not rest until I achieve what I promised my hala. I trust your care for Tommy enough to leave him in your hands now, for he need not be part of any battle. Tell him...” he breathed and just for a moment, his voice wavered, as if even he could not contain his keening desperation for the speedster, “tell him that I will build us a home. One where he and I can be together in peace and no one will tear us asunder again.”

Kate smiled into the phone, an amalgamation of her disappointment and affection. 

“I’ll tell him, if you would answer one question on behalf of Tommy.” She allowed a beat, making sure the Kree had yet to hang up. “You’re right. Many have hurt Tommy, badly. More than he’s probably told you, or me, or anyone else. I know Tommy would then ask you, after everything he’s been through, somewhere along the way he found hope in humanity and fights for it, would you say to his face all his hope, his drive, is for nothing then?”

“No,” he didn’t even need to think about, didn’t need to calculate what Kate might draw from his words because this didn’t matter. Nothing of what she said would manipulate him, if anything, he might even convince them that he truly wanted the best for Tommy and they didn’t need to keep snatching him away from Noh.

“He is humankind’s hope. All of you are, the future that needs a storm to clear the air, the tender roots suffocating underneath the weight of dead leaves and atrocities of your kind’s past. I believe in Tommy’s humanity above all else, because he shines with hope, he inspired the very hope for a better tomorrow in me when I was locked away...And it is this kind of humanity that needs to take control. Your people can be so amazing, like Tommy, or they can be cruel and vindictive creatures, like all those that cut me open for years. I will not see the hope of a new humanity crushed beneath the antiquated cruelty of Earth.”

Kate sighed and then chuckled. “Somehow, I believe how much you cherish Tommy, Noh-Varr, even if I disagree with your methods. You’ve both got it so bad neither of you see straight.” Her smile softened, though she knew the alien couldn’t see it.

“We’ll watch over Tommy. I’m having him taken to my place. He won’t do well being locked up in a hospital,” she added, then hung up before the Kree could. Her heart rushed, aware she’d given vital information to Tommy’s whereabouts after he was wheeled from the building behind her, but maybe it was her way of keeping the bridge between the two white-haired idiots together, should Noh-Varr ever need to just make sure Tommy was indeed alive and, overall, okay.

Returning back, she found the group huddled together, hungry for her report.

“Things are going to get uglier,” she confirmed. She looked at the phone in her hand. “If you’re looking for good news, I can probably tell you he doesn’t intend to kill us. Just kneel.”

Billy was beginning to match Tommy’s tone of gray. “How reassuring.”

Eli’s mouth opened, equipped with a brutal comment, but it shut the instant a doctor slipped through the doors they had been waiting to see open.

The surgeon was breathing a little heavy, and he met each of their gazes. “He’s out.”

*

He missed Tommy. 

It really shouldn’t be at the forefront of his mind so much, but it seemed when it came to the speedster, the Kree had about as much self-control as a toddler. His heart whined and ached and screamed for Tommy’s presence, for his scent, his touch, his beautiful face and his sharp voice that could whisper the softest nothings to ever grace Noh’s ears.

He really missed Tommy.

But Noh-Varr had no time to wallow in his misery, most of the time. He was too busy uprooting the country, slowly, from the ground up, taking out the trash, employing methods the Punisher would have been proud to see. 

Of course, the superhero community threw what they could in his path but he was always one step ahead, prepared by a margin, always managing an escape when the heat concentrated on him too much.

The Kree had learned to be less public about things, at least. And even though his successful vanquishing of several supervillains and corrupt politicians as well as some corporate leaders. He had a long way to dig down and it took real effort to recall Tommy’s face at some moments. 

It scared him, enough to drop whatever weapon he tinkered with as he stared at the phone, the number he had not dialled in weeks. Or was it months? He couldn’t quite put his mind to it. 

But his reason was slipping, not the resolution. Was he even strong enough to keep his promise? Was he strong enough to survive the planned purge and live with Tommy? And what guarantee was there that even those people with potential would be willing to function in his new society?

He needed to see and hear Tommy. He needed that voice in his ear, needed a reassurance of feelings that never lost their fire within the Kree.

So he dialled, waiting with little expectation for an answer.

The problem with coming out of a medically induced coma meant that the pain settled in.

There was the physical, no doubt. For days heavy medication lulled Tommy through doors, some opening to see his teammates around him, faces blurred, other doors opening to see himself lying in a grand bed with sheets nicer than he ever had seen. Beneath the haze though, there was the pain, burning through his legs, sometimes dull, sometimes so scorching he was crying out loud. Then the haze would sweep him away again.

Then, the other kinds of pain pieced themselves back together. They made pictures once Tommy stepped out of the void of drugs, his body’s speedy repatching skills cutting the need for large dosages of medicine by a third of the time most humans needed them. Before that pain deep within him emerged, while it was still painting a bigger picture, Tommy first noticed he wasn’t in a hospital.

He found himself in Kate’s place, in a vast room with thick windows that made up one wall. His team was there, and told him gently what had happened. There faced hesitated, and Tommy’s heart skyrocketed before he processed what they meant.

He couldn’t run.

The pain exploded behind his eyelids and he couldn’t remember much besides screaming at people to get out, to stop touching him, to stop looking at him.

Then there was staring at the windows, catching the sun’s light bouncing off the tips of skyscrapers. Tommy had looked at his legs once, wrapped in gauze and parts held stiff by—

More pain crept out of the cage, memories, realizations, the agony of feeling like a prisoner in his own body, the one thing he didn’t think he could handle. And Noh-Varr was nowhere to be found.

Kate watched it all, saw Tommy carving a cave inside himself and tucking into it. He didn’t smile, he barely looked alive were it not for his breathing and occasional blinks, was all but bullied to eat. The sole thing that put life into his eyes were any and all news reports of Noh-Varr’s alleged purging, however subtle the death had been.

Another report flashed through the screen today, this time highlighting a crowd hopping and cheering as the corrupt official’s death rung through the state like fanfare. There was no doubt many people supported these deaths of men and women who have hurt the masses, from the smallest gangbanger to the tyrant.

Tommy stared at their delight. How many truly would accept Noh-Varr’s proposal? He didn’t know. He couldn’t burden himself with thinking over it.

The report outlined a debate between those supporting the rise in these deaths, and those who opposed it and insisted it was no better than the corrupt persons themselves.

“He’s really doing it,” Kate said softly. “Even the Avengers and other superheroes are struggling to catch him. And they say some mutants have begun taking a liking to this way of…cleaning up the streets.”

Tommy didn’t answer, but his breath hitched when his phone went off. It had been weeks since Kate told him about Noh’s call, and suddenly he was on pins and needles, snatching it from the side table.

“It’s him,” he said.

Kate silently got up and ducked behind the door, allowing for privacy.

Tommy felt and saw his fingers quivering, emotions trying to drag him out of the safe hole he’d made inside himself.

He answered.

“…Please tell me you’re okay.”

“Tommy,” Noh-Varr all but breathed out, finding a never-ending comfort in that voice, in hearing his beloved, knowing he was alive on the other end of the line. He ached to run his fingers over smirking lips, thirsted to know his touch and taste and body again...But he was going to be strong. Just that one sentence from his lover’s mouth gave him more resolve than hours of mulling over his own thoughts. Noh-Varr tucked himself closer to the chimney he was currently seated next to, staring up at the Bishop mansion. His Tommy was in there kept safe in his team’s trustworthy cradle. Even if he had not experienced them and their manner before, that would have earned them his respect. At least, enough not to be swept away and killed like he’d sworn anyone who got in his way would be.

“hala, I am well...I am only half without you, but I am well. Are your legs healing? Are you being restrained?”

Tommy choked back a sound, and had to collect his nerve through a strained, deep inhale.

“I can’t run,” he said, but his voice cracked anyway. He had to sniff. “I’m stuck in this fucking bed. I feel like I might as well be in prison.”

It was more than he had admitted to anyone, the words pouring out of him the moment that sniff left him. Tommy scrubbed hard at his face and cleared his throat, centering his resolve on Noh-Varr’s wellbeing. 

“I’m okay,” he quickly remedied. “I’m okay. I start physical therapy soon. They say I’ll be able to run sooner than a normal person can and shouldn’t have any permanent damage. If it meant saving you from that blast, I’d do it again, knowing I’d be suspended from the Young Avengers.”

He thought to tell Noh-Varr to stop all this, that humanity was flawed from their moment their DNA came together, but that was an argument Tommy had no vigor for. 

“A lot of people are supporting you. It’s on the news,” he said instead.

“Yes...I knew humanity had the potential to see what could be their chance for a change for the better. You are the best human I know, but there are others that carry a tiny fraction of your brightness,” Noh didn’t particularly care about the affectionate tone bleeding through every word. He missed Tommy so much, but he needed to forge that feeling into strength. He was doing the right thing. Everyone would see. Tommy would see. Tommy would be proud of him, would be happy he kept his promise, had done what so many others have broken in the speedster.

“Did Kate Bishop give you my message, hala?”

Tommy lowered the phone, head tilting back until it bumped the wall. Eyes screwed shut, he rode out the feelings surging through him at that word, at the message replaying in his head.

Once it settled and he wasn’t breathing so hard, he replied, “Yeah. She did. I want to believe it. How can I?” the words were starting to burst through his defenses again, this time applied by the pressure of everything he’d been burying for year. “Noh, I see them hunting for you, not just the military, but the Avengers and anyone like them. How can I believe it’ll be okay when they’ll fight you and keep me away from you? I want to have what you’re trying to make, I do, but,” Tommy pressed the heel of his palm into his face, tears breaking through, and now his voice was shaky breaths, garbled up by his sobs, “I can’t see how this will end well. Fuck, Noh-Varr, just stop all this. They’ll always look for you, they’ll never stop, not after what you did, not after I let happen, how I said I would take care of you and help you adjust and then fucked it over so bad that now they don’t think I can ever be part of the team anymore.”

And he cried, because that was all there was left in Tommy, to cry every kind of cry he never got to, not when he was abused, not when Anthony broke his heart, not when he saw the man’s death at Noh-Varr’s hands, not even when Noh-Varr had been taken by the Kree, nor when his legs became useless.

On the other end, the Kree was silent. He listened to Tommy break over the phone and he felt cold, chilled from the bone out. How could this be? How could his lover be faltering, how could he not believe in Noh-Varr now that people were rallying to his cause and success was showing for his vigilant manner? 

How could the one person he wanted to do everything for be so shattered? Noh knew no words of comfort, nor did he think of scolding Tommy for his words, for his disapproval. The human on the phone was losing it and Noh-Varr teetered on a tightrope once more. Without Tommy’s approval...or at least, remote hope, all of this became pointless, humanity, despite its potential, losing his will to change their ways. He wanted a home. With Tommy. 

But what good was that dream when his love was falling to pieces against his ear?

He didn’t notice he’d started humming, but he did, a song he remembered Tommy liking, in secret, of course never admitting to agreeing with Noh’s music taste on anything.

Tommy cried until his voice left him, and he could only manage broken intakes of breath. His shirt was moist, and there were big stains from where the fatter tears dropped onto the blankets. Throughout it all he tried to stop the tears, stop the feelings, and yet more came even when his body was spent from the weight of their release.

Sniffling and trying to scrub his face clean, Tommy began to hear a sound. At first he thought it was from his own fractured imagination, as if he’d desperately hunted through all the pain to find a good memory. Then he recognized Noh-Varr was the source, humming a tune Tommy remembered very well.

He listened as best he could, his sniveling and gasping breaking parts of the beat, but Noh-Varr didn’t let that deter him. He hummed, and kept humming, until Tommy could breathe without his lungs screaming for more air.

The song ended. Tommy clutched the phone harder.

“I’m...I’m coming to find you. Right now,” Tommy said, because he needed to see, needed to feel the alien in his arms now. Already he was wrestling with the blankets, his soft cries and grunts forcing their way out when Tommy’s beaten and dented legs refused to be thrown over the edge of the bed.

“Hala, you should stay in bed,” Noh-Varr could hear the grunts as the speedster wrestled with his injured form and he stood, eyes judging the distance to the mansion, he could make it there so easily and quickly...

He shouldn’t go to see him. If Tommy was suspected of complying with him, they’d take him away as his weak point, would lure him out by using his continued affection for Tommy. 

But he was weak and he wanted to take his lover into his arms, wanted to keep him safe himself. Maybe it was time to take Tommy away, hide him from a world that did not deserve to gaze upon the brightness of him.

“I will come to you, Tommy,” he breathed the name as if it was too precious to be said harshly, “just stay there, I will come for you hala. Right now.”

Tommy froze stiff on the bed, hearing the words yet not quite trusting them to be what he heard. His eyes flicked over to the shut door, then at the large windows that told him of all the great things out there, of all the bad, and, most importantly, that Noh-Varr was out there.

“You’ll know what room I’m in,” he said, then hung up. 

With all his nerves and parts of his very soul, Tommy dragged over to the bed, rolling off and crashing none too gently on his back. He bit his tongue hard to ward off the pain radiating through him when his legs collected in a heap.

Ignoring that as best he could, he military crawled to the window, breathing hard and not caring. It took a solid push from his hands to have it slide open, and then he was heaving his body out onto the grand balcony. He should have done this way earlier, let the wind thread its fingers through his hair, touch his cheeks, steal his breath away; he was up very high in the manor. 

The window opening might have been enough of a clue to Noh-Varr, but for the sake of expending some left over frustration, Tommy wiggled to a potted plant, expensive probably, and knocked it over so it teetered under the gap of the thick rail and plummeted it to its death way below into the gardens.

Noh-Varr would have found him anyway, what with the memorized scent and the observation, but he found his path much quicker this way, taking care to make sure he knew where the Young Avengers were and to sweep for any surveillance the Avengers might have implemented just in case he did visit his lover. But he found nothing and so Noh was against the wall before anyone even noticed the plant’s descent. 

He scaled the wall like an insect version of Romeo, finding the open window from which, to him, a heavenly scent beckoned to him. His caution left him as he scrambled up to the frame, almost falling into the room in his haste to reach his lover.

Noh-Varr looked so much wearier these days. He rarely had time to recover between bouts with superheroes, sleep was out of the question entirely, his life revolved around strategy work and execution. Literally.

“Tommy,” his voice hitched, his eyes brightened, the relentless joy at seeing his beloved pushing aside all notions of exhaustion in him. He may be running himself ragged, but for this wonderful creature? He could see the wet patches, and the way the boy was crumpled. And he scooped him close, arms enfolding Tommy into the delusional safety that as long as they could be together, everything would be alright. He hid his speedster away from a world that didn’t deserve to bask in his beauty.

Tommy had seen Noh-Varr crabbing his way up, and each second had his heart squirming, jumping, aching. Then in a rush of motion, he was enveloped in a familiar scent and arms.

“Noh-Varr,” he said back, seizing the Kree around the neck and pressing as close as he could, not minding that he was being cradled, as seemed to be the pattern since all this mess started. “You’re okay.”

His hands roamed all over the alien, assessing his state. Noh-Varr looked worse for wear, as if sleep never made itself known to the Kree in...months? Tommy didn’t like thinking about that.

“Inside,” he said, “come on. To the bed. You look like you’re going to faint.”

“Do not...even...” Noh-Varr was trying to talk as he nuzzled his head against Tommy like an overly affectionate alien dog, trying to hold him, look at him and touch him all at once, a fumble and flurry as they assessed each other and were both rather concerned. Though he did carry his lover over to the bed and settled himself on it with Tommy in arms, never allowing him to be away for any breath.

“I am fine, you are the one I am concerned for,” Noh-Varr’s hand ran over Tommy’s face, down his neck, his shoulder as he placed a kiss into his hair, frantically pushing the thought that he should know better than this from his mind. He needed this, he needed Tommy.

They were in bed, and for a breath Tommy believed everything was alright. There were no angry superheroes thirsting to bring Noh-Varr to justice, no pain, no memories of Noh-Varr’s hate, all of it could as easily have been a nightmare that Tommy had just awoken from to be consoled by his Kree at his side.

“Shut up,” Tommy said, tucking himself under Noh’s chin and glueing their chests together. It was good to hear and feel the Kree’s heart clamoring against his own chest. “Just touch me.”

He inhaled the scent at the alien’s neck, let his hands wander over a body Tommy never forgot the feeling of, and never seemed to get enough of. Just as good was the sensation of those large hands, so easily capable of destruction and asserting violence, floating and caressing down the expanse of his own body.

Tommy flinched when they ultimately reached his legs. Where he’d bitten off anyone’s head who tried to touch him there, including doctors, especially doctors, he melted beneath what Noh-Varr provided that they lacked.

As the hands continued their affection, Tommy tilted his head and cupped Noh’s face, drawing him in for a kiss he’d wished he could have delivered the day he saw him on the news.

And the rebellious Kree was a willing slave to Tommy’s affection. The kiss wasn’t rough, but it held a thrill that nothing in the universe compared to. At least for Noh-Varr, as he tenderly applied himself to this show of affection. His hands were stroking damaged thighs, beautiful legs that should never have been injured, though he pushed the anger he felt at that aside, now was not the time. He spent all of his days clinging to his rage, so this moment, when he could just be Noh-Varr, the young man who’d seen too much and loved this human boy more than anything else.

“Tommy,” another breath against sweet lips he’d missed too much, a couple of strong fingers, threading through the white mat of hair on Tommy’s head as the Kree moved his kisses over his lover’s face, “I love you...I love you more than anything in any universe I’ve been to.”

Tommy would have never thought he’d be one to bask in a shower of affection, but he did just that under Noh-Varr’s kisses and declarations. Weaving his hands through Noh’s hair, Tommy kissed back each time their mouths met.

“I love you,” he answered, and pressed even closer. “Don’t go. Not yet. I know I can’t stop you, and I really thought I was going to have to make a choice, to fight you or be seen as some kind of traitor.” He pressed a fierce kiss to Noh’s lips. “I’ve been seen as an outcast most of my life, and I wasn’t going to let it bother me now. Even if they dangled me as bait,” he wrapped his arms around Noh’s middle and squeezed, “I’m not going to fight you. I can’t. They’d have to break my legs again before I’d even let them think I would.”

Noh-Varr knew he should tell Tommy of what had thrown a wrench into his plans, but he was too preoccupied feeling every inch of his lover against him, and trying to quell the instinct to take Tommy away and let him heal in his Kree’s company instead of sulking away on this bed...Actually, no, he’d have to do it now, whilst Tommy was still glad to see him and forgot his anger. 

“Tommy, hala, there’s something I...was going to talk to you about on the phone...and it might change everything, but I am not certain...I only seek your advice because you are the only one I trust...and I would love to say I will not leave, but if this...thing is what I think it is, I will have to. It might even be a bigger threat than I could ever have imagined here on Earth.”

Tommy looked suitably horrified by his words so the Kree continued.

“I have been...cleaning what dirt I can grasp and haul away, but...the scum likes to talk. Like to talk a lot when I reach them...There’s Skrulls on Earth Tommy,” the disgust in his voice should have given clue enough that said Skrulls were nowhere near as mild-mannered as Teddy.

“Infiltration specialist Skrulls. They’re a vanguard, Tommy. I know a covert invasion force when I see one.”

Tommy bolted to a sitting position, so alert one would doubt he had been a bawling mess minutes earlier.

“Skrulls,” he parroted. The name alone burned in the speedster’s mind. They were vicious and very difficult to annihilate. “We have to tell the others, Noh. This is big. Really big. They’re going to wipe out so many cities before anyone figures out what’s going on.”

As he spoke he was shoving away from Noh-Varr, senses at their peak, trying to shove his legs over the side of the bed as he had done moments ago.

Noh’s arms dragged him back with some force, where Teddy might struggle with flailing speedster, the Kree held him securely as he pressed him against his own chest.

“I plan to. But we cannot tell the Avengers. Or rather. You will not tell the Avengers that I informed you. If your team still garners any trust, then utilize it and mobilize those who waste their efforts chasing me. A Skrull invasion is nothing that I can handle alone, though I would not deny my own power. But even I cannot stand against an armada.”

Still, though his mouth was basically telling Tommy to run and tell his friends, his arms would not let go of the speedster.

“I will give you something, something that should help your brother to locate the remaining Skrull. I fear there may be thousands already here. They’re so well-disguised, even I can’t smell them.”

Tommy’s wrestling with Noh-Varr’s arm subsided at the words. What did Noh-Varr intend to do? Face the armada with the hopes of backup arriving? Was this just a tangent to his goal of purging the world, refusing to have the Skrull infest it before he got to cleanse it all?

“Noh,” Tommy shifted to face him. “What are you talking about? Going up against even one Skrull is a big deal, let alone,” he swallowed, “thousands. Why are you doing this? You--No. It doesn’t matter. You can’t go. They’ll be too happy to rip you apart being what you are. I’m not letting you go. Not this time.”

The force behind his words was faltering, his fingers fisting in Noh’s uniform, eyes wild and somehow knowing Noh-Varr was going to leave toward a terrifying fate.

“Tommy,” Noh’s crystal blue eyes softened, infinite affection in his gaze as he held steady to Tommy. He knew he’d broken a lot of...promises, even, and he had a bad history of leaving the speedster behind even when he didn’t want to. He would not do so again, unless Tommy’s life depended on it. And for once, it did not matter where he stood, with the Skrull coming, everyone was up against the same foe or perished.

“I would not leave your side at such a time. I want you to pass the information on to your team and they carry the warning, the message and the device on to those that pledged themselves to protect this world. My place is beside you. And until this threat is gone...I will not be taken away. This is different, this isn’t a matter or wiping out those rotten old festering wounds now. The Skrull will wipe out everything, that is how they are, barbaric slaughter is their pleasure.”

Tommy hooked his gaze into Noh’s, panic still clawing at him at the prospect of Noh-Varr leaving. Skrulls stalked the world, and Tommy could not be so selfish as to allow their plague to harm the innocents he had promised to protect, to harm the hope that humanity was known for as much as their destructive nature.

“I’ll tell them,” he whispered. So much left unsaid, he supplied Noh-Varr a kiss, one that poured his heart into the Kree, offering him the sustenance he’d need to carry through what ugly chaos awaited them.

But even after the threat was lifted, if possible, that did not guarantee his standing with Noh-Varr, not when so much boiling within them had yet to be unleashed. Now wasn’t the time for it though.

“I’ll fucking kill you if you get killed,” Tommy said through the kiss, pulling Noh-Varr closer, just wanting a few scant more minutes to give everything he could to the only person he really ever gave a damn about that’d he risk losing his title as a superhero.

“That’s-highly-illogical” Noh managed between kisses, he too seemed keen to linger where he shouldn’t, but with this new threat to Earth and especially one that could surround them at any given moment, he really didn’t have much willpower to tear himself away.

After giving over to the kiss for minutes, indulging himself in feeling Tommy’s hair and skin and touch and taste, he drew back, still not filled with intent to leave.

“Tommy, I mean it, I will not entrust you to anyone else. Infiltration Skrulls are perfect at stealth and though your team has given me no cause for suspicion...I won’t be...leaving you. I will fight, of course I will, I was made to kill Skrulls, but if the Avengers should come...I will. Not. Leave. You.”

Especially because the speedster’s legs were out of commission.

Tommy’s eyes lingered on Noh-Varr’s mouth a little longer, memorizing every detail, every twitch they’d given in their time together. 

“I won’t leave you either,” he promised, quickly, and brimming with truth. Should it mean they’d end up chucked into a cell together, so be it. 

The moment should have lasted a little longer, half a minute would have sufficed, but Tommy perked up at hearing muffled sounds exuding beyond the door. How easy it was to forget they were not alone in this manor.

“Kate,” he said. He held Noh-Varr’s jaw firmly. “I’ll tell them. I promise. I’ll see you soon. No matter what...I just want you alive. If you’re alive, I have hope. Don’t fucking forget that. Ever. Stay alive. For me. Or I die with you. Okay?”

Noh-Varr nodded, just the once, pushing forward for one last kiss before he hauled himself towards the window, but not before leaving a device and instructions for it on the bed by his lover, climbing out of sight the moment the door to the room flew open and the Young Avengers spilled into the room like the bumbling cast of some sort of sitcom.

The Kree didn’t leave, not right away, he would set up ‘camp’ nearby so he could keep watch over Tommy. He had no intention of taking on Skrull by himself, but there was always the possibility of the Avengers not believing the younger team.

In which case it would be up to him and him alone to draw the Skrull into the open and instigate a massive battle. He really rather hoped it wouldn’t take that turn, because that would definitely be suicide.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a bust.

Tommy saw red, and hurling the décor on his nightstand at the wall did nothing to assuage it. When a few of his teammates winced at the display, that didn’t help either. Tommy ignored them, whatever consoling they tried to extend to him, assuring him that with some time, Cap and the others would take his words to be true.

Time was not a luxury. Already blood flashed behind each blink, images of Noh-Varr crumbling to one knee as the Skrull overpowered him, his back unguarded by the superheroes too daft to do anything about it.

The Avengers had little status for Tommy Shepherd. They’d gone on about their trust had been manipulated and severed more than once since his fling with Noh-Varr. Fling they had said!

Were it not for Kate and the others chiming in at Iron Man’s harsh words—he had hardly apologized for harming Tommy, insisting he got in the way—Tommy would have found the remnants of his strength to lunge at them and throttle them back into sensibility.

As it was, Noh-Varr was on his own, and the Avengers believing Tommy was creating a diversion to spare Noh-Varr time for his next attack. He was as good as a criminal in their eyes now.

Everything hurt.

“Give me that,” someone said sharply, and Tommy realized it had been Billy. The mage was gesturing to the table where Noh-Varr had supplied some information.

Tommy narrowed his eyes at his twin.

“Tommy,” Billy sighed at the look, “you are a lot of things. Selfish. Stubborn. An asshole. Frustrating, and that’s just the nice way of saying it.”

“Thanks,” Tommy muttered.

“But you’re part of our team, and I trust you. Teammates sometimes can stray and even turn bad, but I see…I’ve seen how you look at him, Tommy.” Billy hesitated and rubbed his neck, as though not adjusted to sharing something that wasn’t banter with the speedster. “You deserve him. To be happy, that is. If there’s a lot of things you are, a traitor to humanity isn’t one of them, no matter what any Avenger or not says.”

Billy smiled then, the most Tommy had gotten from him in a while, and the mage collected the items.

The others rallied around him.

Tommy stared. “You all…But what about what—?”

Kate flashed him a smirk. “When did we last not do something because Captain America said so?”

Tommy smiled, the first time in months where it felt relieved.

*

The Kree knew of their existence, just as they knew of his.

Noh-Varr was the scum’s name. He reeked of the Kree Empire, oozed each insult the Skrulls had no mercy for. Though, when had they ever relied on mercy, let alone on a cockroach or the Kree as a whole?

They knew, and the shift in the world’s dynamic did not go undetected by those already infiltrated and posing as mere humans. They saw the news too, further probed and unearthed some delicious details on this Kree.

Punishment loomed near for the Earth, for such acts as harboring a Kree alone justified the invasion.

Soon conquest would take its first step into the world, one so potent scars would remain once the humans were ensnared good and tight, their heroes made examples of.

But when such an opportunity presents itself to turn that step into a leap, the Skrulls could not bypass it. So, weeks after Noh-Varr had paid his farewell to the human he treasured, a miniscule infantry, by Skrull standards, skulked around the manor where a speedster slept in the death of night.

They permeated through every crack in the defenses, and they conquered.

*  
He wasn’t enough. One Kree was not enough to stop an army of Skrull invaders, let alone slow their influx of power. Noh-Varr took every opportunity he had, used every trick he had up his sleeve, but it was simply that, not enough. He had nothing to be ashamed of, because this wasn’t failure. He was overwhelmed by numbers, the never ending beep of the devices he created to track even the best disguised Skrulls.

So Noh-Varr fled. Fled so he could fight another day, hopefully with more backing than he’d received so far. Which was none. He’d used every scrap of technology at his disposal, his hideout empty and barren as his mind. Even as a Kree supersoldier, this was not within his capabilities.

Noh-Varr’s tactical retreat involved finding Tommy and holing up into a last-ditch defense until the Avengers would finally be aware of the invasion, even if Noh had to smack Captain America with a Skrull head.

But the mansion looked...Noh could smell it half a mile away. A concentration of Skrull scent that nothing to do with Teddy and everything to do with bad news.

Noh-Varr was so damn tired. Injured too, but he was incredibly versed at suppressing pain. The wounds on his sides, the aching hole in his shoulder, they mattered little, paled before the possibility of combat so close to Tommy’s location. Gathering some of the last remains of his strength, he pushed himself into a run. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t be half as useful in a fight like this. If his bulk could shield Tommy from harm, he’d gladly sacrifice himself.

The sounds of battle reached his ears before he could see the darting shapes of the Young Avengers. Fighting a small Skrull invasion force and having their hands entirely too full for comfort. Where the hell was Tommy?! The speedster was in no condition to fight and if all the others were occupied...

The Kree burst onto the scene with a furious growl ripping from his throat as he befell the nearest Skrull, tearing through a thick green neck and working his explosive nail into the shapeshifter’s head before wrestling the next one to ground, the one that had almost surprised Wiccan in a very bad manner from behind.

“Where is Tom-My?! Is he safe?!” Noh’s tone carried pure panic, his tired face stricken, worried and blood-smeared.

Billy had whirled on Noh-Varr, expecting more trouble, and he let out a sound of alarm. 

“Noh-Varr,” he said, floating away just to fabricate a shield before Hawkeye could be showered by Skrull soldiers. “We don’t know!” He had to yell to be heard above the roar that spawned from war. 

Eli bashed his shield into a Skrull’s neck, putting it out of commission. “They took him! We tried to stop--” Whatever was left to argue about died when more Skrulls charged at the team.

And upstairs, in the wake of the Skrull’s triumph, blood smeared the walls to the room that had been Tommy’s resting spot. Nasty Skrull fingers had dragged and scraped across the wallpaper, curling and dipping the blood to scrawl a message for the Kree the Earth had the audacity to house.

at dawn look up and watch your hala burn

The noise that Noh-Varr gave upon the sight the wall bore him wasn’t human and it wasn’t one he could ever reproduce like that again. It was a howl and a scream, anguish and rage and endless despair as he smelled Tommy’s blood all over, felt his indestructible stomach bottom out, felt himself gliding to his knees, exhausted and completely overwhelmed. His anguish turned into a desperate sob, just once, twice, shoulders shaking as he punched the floor hard enough to make the house tremble. 

Too late. Too slow. Too weak.

They’d taken Tommy, and with it, ripped out Noh’s core, carved out his reason and strength. The number of Skrulls outside was decimated by the rest of the Young Avengers, but it was too late to track those that had taken his beloved. Noh-Varr stayed there, trying to breathe, but nothing would fill his lungs, only pain, his wounds, his heart, everything took and took from him and the Kree had nothing left to give. No one had come to aid him against the destruction of the human race and even though he himself had certain plans towards it, he’d never wanted their annihilation. And now...Tommy...oh god, where was Tommy, what the hell had they done to him? He wanted to leap up, he wanted to level everything until he found those damn Skrull and reduced them to nothing but dust. But his limbs wouldn’t budge, his muscles were trembling, burning with an exhaustion he’d never known before. And for the first time in his life, Noh-Varr felt himself cry. He was fucking sobbing. This must be the end.

They found the Kree in a state like no other. Broken. Crumbled in on himself. His soul spilling with each tremor of his shoulders. The team watched, in part because there were no words to console the alien, and because the stench and demolition of the room spoke volumes of Tommy’s struggle even in his poor condition. Horror, pity, and something else weighed down on the team’s already crooked shoulders after the battle.

Kate held hers up high when she should have wilted first among the group, having no leverage as a mutant. She stepped slowly to Noh-Varr, knelt before him, and, cautiously, touched him under his chin with her fingertips.

“We found them hiding,” she said. “The Avengers would not trust Tommy.” She did not have to say more on the trust they still had in the speedster, and Noh-Varr. Their lives were testament to that, their victory over an ambush proof that they were not done yet.

“You can’t help him like this. He isn’t dead, and that means hope,” she added, unaware of Tommy having said the same words weeks before. “You’ve been fighting too long. I won’t draw my arrows at you, so please let us help you now. Tommy loves you, Noh-Varr, never doubted it, and that’s enough for me to give you my hand now. Whether you crush it or hold it, I leave to you to decide.”

Her hand lowered enough so Noh-Varr could see it, her eyes firmly on his face, her faith in Tommy and the love that caused all this bedlam so strong her fingers didn’t so much as tremble as they awaited the Kree’s response.

Her voice was so far away, as if he was wrapped in thousands of layers of cotton or silk or something equally unpleasant and muffling, and yet her words rang clear through his chaos-ridden mind. Kate’s reason overturned his toppled being, forced his pain to obey logic and his despair to press itself into a corner for hope to blossom. And it did. Those words, they ached with familiarity, and his thoughts were back to Tommy. Tommy, who needed him at his strongest right now when Noh-Varr had nothing left to give, Tommy who had been taken from him despite all he’d done to never lose his lover. Tommy, who would most certainly die if the Kree didn’t accept help now.

His hand graced the human’s only briefly, there was no strength left in his blood-covered grip and stormy ice-blue stared up at Kate with the desperate tint of hope on the edge of an absolute abyss.

“I just wanted him to be safe. I...help...me,” his eyes whirled, sought out Billy, sought out the faint traces of blue magic light still shimmering around him.

“Fix me.”

Kate nodded when Noh’s hand touched hers, and she offered him a squeeze that promised him everything the Avengers, or the rest of humanity, wouldn’t.

Billy jolted at those sharp eyes landing on him. He swallowed down the ice chunks growing in his throat, and clenched his hands by his thighs.

“I’ll do my best,” he said, and held up his hand before Noh-Varr could tackle him to get the job done quicker. “But don’t think this means you’re off the hook. You did...some really bad things in the eyes of humanity, and I don’t mean about humans. I mean being the one to judge who lives or dies, which punishment deserves which person, it’s a slippery slope, and there will always be someone who is going to oppose it, whether it’s through drastic measures or not.”

His hand lowered and he carefully maneuvered toward the Kree, aware the alien was very much like a wild beast now that could strike when an impulse sparked him to it.

“Humanity,” he went on softer, “really means kindness, compassion, the things you see in Tommy that really outdo most people’s. That’s why Tommy doesn’t kill, because he wants to show you with time and work, people will show their good side, will help those that turned bad instead of damaging them more.

Both palms lifted, inches from the Kree. “I’ll try to heal you, and it’s not because I like you or agree with you. I’m doing it because Tommy knows humanity better than I do, and I love him as much as he drives me insane. This is for him and what he believes in.”

Billy nodded, more to himself than anyone else, less so the Kree, and he blew out the heaviest exhale of his life. A chant, wisps of it, wove through the air thick with Tommy’s blood, and Billy delivered every scrap of himself to making the words true, feeling the electric brilliance of his magic answer and seep from his eyes and hands to thread through the injuries Noh-Varr had sustained.

It took mere minutes, but when Billy’s hands fell down, Teddy had to keep him upright as the spell completed its task and kissed the last remnants of Noh-Varr’s aches away.

“I hope,” Billy panted, “I didn’t just make the stupidest mistake of my life.”

What Billy said to him would have prompted Noh-Varr into a snarl of justified rage and give an aggressive defense of his standpoint at any other moment in time. But right now, the Kree was exhausted, in pain, and in absolutely no frame of mind to even mount a defense in his own eyes. 

He bowed his head, offering the human no contra until he began the healing process.

Noh-Varr didn’t like magic, he decided right there. Not that he hadn’t known before, but this cemented the idea amongst his instincts, because nothing should feel like electricity mixed with fire and acid rolling through him and not cause more pain. He felt every muscle group, every exhausted part of him replenished, the wounds disappearing, skin patching together, body invigorating as the mage worked his spell.

He may not like magic, but if it would save Tommy’s life, he would never complain about again.

With a swift movement, he was back on his feet. He was...well he felt rested, recovered, vivacious and full of a dire need to rescue Tommy.

“...I must go outside. Follow me,” Noh-Varr knew he wouldn’t be rid of the team so easily, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t here to be their caretaker. They were means to an end, in this case, his end Tommy’s rescue. No one could track as he could though, so, without so much as a nod of acknowledgement he’d even heard the double moral speech, he swept outside, where he stilled entirely. He’d have to white run, there was no other way to concentrate on Tommy’s scent, but that would mean he’d be against the Skrulls alone...because none of the others could keep up. The Kree turned as the Young Avengers spilled out of the building after him.

He took a step towards Billy, who looked entirely weary as the Kree held out his arms.

“I need to take you along William Kaplan. I must white-run to find Tommy. None of you can keep pace...and you can teleport your team in once I find him.”

Billy gaped, which in it of itself took a good chunk of his replenishing energy.

What protests swarmed through him and dove to the tip of his tongue withered at the Kree’s expression. To Eli’s chagrin and Teddy’s swelling concern, the mage silently approached Noh-Varr, squashing whatever snarky comment wanted to come out.

There was little time, and Noh-Varr was right. For once.

“We’ll contact the Avengers,” Kate said as Billy readied himself for an experience that would no doubt make him whoozy. “We’ll…leave you out of the report. Earth needs you now, Noh-Varr. We need your help too. Go.”

Their destination, miles away, would lead them to the Chrysler Building, where the world awakened to news coverage of a white-haired teenager strapped to powerful binds, his body dangling and at the mercy of a Skrull that held the ends of it.

More of their kind crawled along the building, some planted within the building to hold hostage the innocent persons who had gone to work early, herding the people like cattle as the speedster continued to hang in mid-air.

Tommy counted his breaths, blinked through the blood. Besides his bum legs, he was hardly injured, the wound to his head providing enough blood for the Skrull’s message. He didn’t think about how heights had him grow cold when he had no speed or legs to remedy that. Instead, he thought of Noh-Varr, wondered when they could go home to the house the Kree would build, when they could sleep in and not comb through the surrounding area for those hunting them down.

“Human!” A voice boomed behind him. “Witness a new path to glory…”

The Skrull was monologuing, speaking of all the bloodshed that would spread like a virus soon, beginning at this spot. Tommy tuned him out, let himself count and imagine Noh-Varr.

Then he heard the Kree’s name being shouted, among other crude words and condemnations of the Earth and her people for keeping the Kree in its lands.

Noh-Varr had taken Billy into his arms and there was no time or room to feel awkward about it. Just a brief, disconcerting moment to have a smell almost similar to Tommy’s so close, but with Teddy’s Skrull scent permeating every pore of Billy’s body (or at least that’s what he smelled like to Noh), the distinction was pretty easy to make. Noh-Varr despised the fact he was following the smell of Tommy’s blood of all things. The white-run felt good, the rush taking all thought from his mind. In the white-run, only the goal was achieved and everything else becomes insubstantial. His objective to rescue the speedster took him downtown, to the foot a large building (he knew it’s name, but that held no relevance at this moment). What was important was that he could see Skrulls all over the damn thing. With a barely restrained growl, he stopped in a near side-street and deposited the mage.

“Get your team. I shall gain their attention.”

From what he’d counted, at least thirty-eight Skrulls on the outside of the building, probably more inside. Theoretically, he was more than capable of engaging them for...

“You have an hour to get the Avengers on this, I cannot survive endlessly against so many.” 

And that was the end of his statement for Billy, because he took off, jumping straight the first skrull who landed headfirst in a very solid wall.

Noh-Varr’s feet pounded over windows, concrete and more windows. He could see the figure dangling so far up. He didn’t have to see him to know him, a smell was enough. He was coming for his beloved, he would not fail again.

Billy was on the alert, and summoned his team the moment Noh-Varr issued his orders.

Far above the streets, Tommy opened his eyes as noise ballooned around him, encasing him in a constant state of chaos though he did nothing more than hang forward. A rush of dizziness passed as his eyes adjusted.

Skrulls were engaged, battling and gurgling when they fell. More of them swarmed the building. Somewhere below he saw white hair, and he chuckled, feeling blood dribbling past his mouth.

“You’re dead,” he told the Skrull behind him.

A mean, foul sound that must have been a chuckle crept up Tommy’s spine, igniting shivers all over.

With no warning, the straps hoisting Tommy up like a fish released.

Tommy plummeted, his scream startling his own ears until it snagged short onto a pained grunt when the binds were held taut again, though now he dangled lower than he had been. His heart pummeled against his eardrums and he sucked in shaky breaths, forcing the fear of falling out of his mind, and failing.

“Noh-Varr!” The name was an insult how the Skrull high above him said it. “Come close and he loses a limb before you can reach him. We want your attention, nothing more for the moment.”

The Kree, all too tuned into Tommy’s scream froze into horrified obedience, though he’d use the time he had to hold still to assess the remaining numbers and the precarious situation Tommy was in. Could he managed to reach him in time? Doubtful. He looked back down, saw the drop, beyond the range he liked, beyond the range he could survive effortlessly. It was a gamble. One he couldn’t take just yet. Would they drop Tommy, just like that?

It would be easiest way for him to save his beloved, but that required precision agility and reflexes...both of which he had to make sure were not impaired by Skrulls.

“What do you want, you barbaric vermin?!” He snarled up at the Skrull that postured like a leader of some sort.

“We saw your antics on the television,” the Skrull said. “Of course a Kree would fail so miserably. This world is meant to be conquered.”

The Skrull leaned over the edge enough to pin Noh-Varr with his stare, keeping the binds that prevented Tommy’s death visible for the Kree, silent in his intent to drop the human should Noh-Varr stir his agitation.

“Within the building,” he said, now looking at a helicopter documenting the scene, “are hundreds of you humans, to be enslaved or slaughtered should they resist. This Kree you allowed onto your world has grown weak, disturbed by a misguided affection for your kind. Will he save those within once I give the order? Will he prove himself the hero he strives to be by sparing the lives of those who have done nothing wrong to plague this world with humanity’s deceit, corruption, and filth?”

The Skrull supplied a stretch of his face that meant to convey a smile. He held tighter to the binds so they creaked and extended his hand so Tommy hung farther out.

“Or will he let your kind fend for itself and save the sole human that has made him so weak?”

Tommy heard the words, and he realized the cruel test before it had even begun. He squirmed and shouted down at Noh, trying to assure him that his life was never worth so many innocents that had people they loved as much as Tommy loved Noh, that they were the ones to make change to the world, not a superhero who had let his team down.

But it was all white noise for the news crews as the Skrull spoke above his please.

“I give in the order in five seconds, Kree.”

Noh-Varr listened with his mind rambling away, trying to devise a plan to take out all the Skrulls without removing himself too far to save Tommy. His choice, should he need to come to it, was obvious. Tommy was his reason to change Earth. A life without him was not possible, not anymore.

And yet, he was about to prove how inconsistently he stood to his own principle. How very un-Kree, how incredibly human would it be of him to put his own state of mind and being, his own love before countless lives?  
There was no room for hate in him right now, only cold panic and fear for Tommy’s life. He could hear his beloved, telling him to choose the people over him, that they had their own loves that would be destroyed and that he wasn’t worth rescuing. Noh-Varr scolded the speedster for a fraction of a second in his mind.

Tommy was worth more than the planet to the Kree. Tommy was worth more than every human on the surface. But he’d promised the speedster...

Fuck, he’d promised him a hell of a lot of things that he probably should have thought about for centuries beforehand.

Tommy needed him, but he would hate him if he made the selfish choice right now. This was going to end badly, damn those fucking Skrulls and their vindictive nature.

“To what purpose are you making me choose? This planet is about to be subjugated under you, what does one mutant life mean to you?!”

His entire body was capable of ‘hearing’ sound and what approached in the distance was the last thing to give him hope. This called for drastic measures. If the Skrull on top of the building was dead, he couldn’t give the order for the others to attack the innocents, right?

The Kree moved to the edge, running up as quickly and as directly beneath Tommy as he could. 

His plan was rather thwarted by the Skrull that sprang from the building to stop him. Noh was dragged, slowed and forced to fight. And since those Skrulls were also some of the ones that were holding the hostages...

Blue magic ensnared the Skrulls as the Young Avengers plus some special guests in form of the actual Avengers materialized in the building and began to fight to free the hostages. Noh was left to his own devices but a look from the mage, so hauntingly identical to Tommy, commanded him wordlessly.

Noh-Varr heard the dark, ugly cackle of the leader, then the faint snaps from where Tommy’s bonds released the speedster to his plummeting death. And the Kree ran like he’d never done before, leaping from the window into clear air, timing just barely made it as he got ahold of Tommy’s leg. The speedster was screaming in terror and Noh didn’t blame him, but there was no time to be calm or collect himself, he just wrestled Tommy’s body against his own, curving and curling around until his back was at the bottom of their rapid descent, his arms tight around Tommy as he braced himself for more pain than he’d ever felt, maybe even death, but Tommy would be safe, cradled in his arms.

Suspended too high up became Tommy's world, everything else out of orbit, out of his mind. 

But not Noh-Varr. The Kree was his sun, storming up, and hope flooded Tommy. 

Then left him dry when Skrulls dragged the Kree into the building. 

Tommy heard a cackle, and he never hears his own scream as he fell straight down toward his death, regrets, wishes, and all in between burning through his mind as much as the wind did during his descent. 

Something yanked at him. A flurry of motion and familiar arms and scent overtook him. Noh-Varr. Just like their first day. 

Tommy couldn't even cling to him, his arms strapped behind his back, but that didn't stop him from pressing into his Kree, curl up and trust he would be safe. 

They fell together, every rapid beat of Tommy's heart a plea, a beg for some help, something to ensure not just his safety, but for Noh-Varr as well. 

They fell farther, and Tommy didn't want to brace his heart, didn't think he could handle the sound of the Kree dying so that Tommy would live. Noh-Varr was going to die, he felt it in his soul. 

A pop to his left and a rush of momentum hurled them on a tangent. Something ensnared them. There came a crude sound as Noh-Varr took the worst of the impact. 

Impact? Already? Tommy lifted his stiff neck and realized they were in a net, dangling from the side of a building. A whip of his head and he saw an arrow pinning them to the brick. Tommy knew this trick arrow. 

He struggled in the net, scanning the building infested with Skrulls. Tall on a ledge, Kate lowered her bow, offered a gesture of her hand, and hopped into the floor below her to aid her comrades. 

They'd survived. 

 

Tommy made a lot of noise, wiggling and crying out, and it must have caused the Kree a few seconds longer than necessary to get a hold of the situation. 

"Noh," Tommy was saying, more clearly, "thank God."

He allowed a moment to press his mouth over the alien before more pressing matters swarmed to the forefront of his mind. 

"I'll be okay. I'm fine. So please. My home needs your help," he said, urgency in his voice and eyes. "Our home needs your help, Noh-Varr."

Noh’s world was falling, ending, but he knew Tommy would survive. Then, the harsh jerk of reality and their rescue by a shrewd woman he was starting to admire. That beautiful Kate Bishop was one of those humans he’d change and shape the world for, it clicked somewhere in the back of his mind. Actually, all of the Young Avengers were worthy causes.

But most of all, the speedster in his grip. The Kree tore off the restraints on the young man’s arms, a frantic press of lips sending his frozen heart into a frenzy. Their home...Earth was their home. And he’d done a lot of foolish things to it. Maybe...just maybe, the Kree way wasn’t supreme. How could Earth have produced such marvelous creatures like the one in his grip even without his aid before? Maybe this was the natural evolution of humans...maybe he couldn’t meddle with it without becoming part of it. And a hindrance...He’d let his hatred for a small group rule over his judgement. Strictly speaking, that wasn’t very Kree of him at all. And counter-productive too, because every small success bred a larger beast, a harsher enemy, a more corrupt system of self-justice being idolized.

But these thoughts could not be combed right now, so the Kree stored them away for later. He lay there in the net and listened to Tommy urging him on. But this couldn’t just...pass like this. He had to inform his lover, at least on some level.

“I have been terrible...haven’t I? Acting like...a wrathful deity...I am...a fool. Tommy Shepherd, hold onto what you feel right now, for I must go help save Earth. Maybe I can redeem my actions.”

Tommy held his face, his gaze, as Noh-Varr came to the senses the speedster had always wanted him to, on his own.

“You’re not terrible,” he insisted, speaking in a rushed tone. They had little time for this conversation. “There’s a lot of anger in you, Noh-Varr. It’s still there, but we can work on it, teach you not to let you fuel it. I...I guess I wasn’t much better. We both need help, but yes, the way you acted wasn’t helping what’s now your home. It is your home. You’re my home, you fucking stupid Kree.”

Once more, for the last time before Noh-Varr dove into the fray, Tommy kissed him with all of his fiber, all of his stubborn soul. He pulled back sooner than he wanted and smirked.

“I’m not all that useless. I can stand a little, but if you carry me to where the cops are down there, I can help keep the Skrulls from attacking civilians.” He waved his arms to punctuate the point. “I have a few explosions I owe them for cutting my head up.”

Noh-Varr would certainly rather have his precious human on the sidelines, doing something valid and important as protecting citizens rather than be in the midst of the fray. He cradled his lover close and leapt from the net, now at a distance he could quite easily deal with from the ground. The Kree ran down the nearest building and deposited Tommy in a flurry of motion on a police car on the edge of the battle on the tower. Then he sped away to do his part.

*

With the combined force of the Avengers, the Skrulls fell after a long, hard fight. Many of them to Noh’s wrathful hands, though he took care not to appear too brutal, knocking out where he could and fending off more lethal blows as the green-skinned foes let the age-old hatred between their races be felt.

After what felt like hours, the last Skrull was unable to move or fight and the Avengers silently declared the victors. The joy at the defeat of the invaders was short-lived for Noh-Varr, as Iron Man held a charged gauntlet up to his face and told him to drop his weapons. The Kree gave a sigh, but complied, he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions eventually and this was to be his fate. Maybe they’d allow him visitors this time. 

Carol Danvers seemed to take personal offense at his previous actions, though Noh would never acknowledge her flimsy association to Kree as given argument for her to take it as such.

“I only request one thing of you, Avengers,”

“You got a lot of nerve requesting anything but a punch in the face, buddy,” Tony sniped from behind him, voice tired and aggravated even through the mechanical relay of his suit.

“Do not blame Tommy....He did nothing to aid me in my purpose. He tried to prevent my actions on every occasion he had, being a hero is his life. Do not take it from him simply because he has the misfortune of caring for me.”

Tommy heard it all, even witnessed Noh-Varr being strapped by the wrists, one step toward imprisonment. What cry of protest bubbled in his throat died when Teddy placed a now human hand on his shoulder.

“Not now, Tommy,” Teddy said. “Everyone’s tired.”

Captain America glanced at the Young Avengers huddled around Tommy, buffering the speedster’s unsaid plea.

“Let’s get a cleanup crew going. Don’t worry, Wiccan, you’ve done enough. I think it’s best we all head back and collect our thoughts.”

“If you lock him up, I’m going in with him,” Tommy said.

“That’s not—“

“Please,” Tommy said. “If you’re going to think about what needs to be done with him, either lock me up with him so he’s not afraid or let him stand on trial properly while the discussions go on. Isn’t that fair? Isn’t that more humane?”

Captain America exhaled, surveyed the destruction, and nodded.

“Please,” Kate supplied, sprinkling on the diplomacy where Tommy lacked it.

Another sigh, then a nod.

“Alright.”


	14. Chapter 14

Noh-Varr’s fate carried through conversations, to bickering, to full blown arguments, to bantering that strayed off the topic, and back again to arguments.

It was a loop Tommy didn’t take kindly to, especially when he was stuck in a damn wheelchair. Standing he could do, including a few strides, but not for prolonged periods. Ego bruised, head dented, heart exhausted, Tommy wanted to just tell everyone Noh-Varr was good to go. Of course none of the adults paid him so much as a kind glance, as if Tommy was the core of all the issues.

They couldn’t decide what to do with Noh-Varr, not exactly. Imprisonment was a fan of a few, but Captain America shied from the usual, intense captivity for superheroes. The Young Avengers, minus Tommy who was told to keep his mouth shut (as Iron Man poetically put it), insisted it would do more harm than good.

Others thought banishment, and Tommy had shot out of his wheelchair, only coaxed back down by Billy and Teddy. That earned him more looks, like he was going to dash off with Noh-Varr, who stood silent and still in the middle of it all. Tommy yearned to touch him.

Finally, amidst the bedlam that Noh-Varr’s fate brought upon the room, Eli stood and slammed his palms hard enough on a counter to shake the fight out of everyone.

“Enough,” he snarled.

Even Tommy gaped at him, all too aware of how little Eli had thought of his relationship with the Kree, and less so of Noh-Varr himself.

“This isn’t helping,” Eli said. “No one’s thinking outside the box.”

Captain America raised a hand to silence Ms. Marvel’s snappy retort.

“Go on,” he told Eli.

“I propose,” Eli began, straightening, chin up, “a compromise. I believe Tommy when he says Noh-Varr understands he did wrong. However, punishment has to come. I don’t think captivity will help, not at all. That being said, I think he should be monitored, not quite house arrest. He can go places, but would be watched. I also think community service is in order. Something that would suffice for him and would not only put him to work, but teach him the good things. The things Tommy here won’t shut up about.”

Tommy bristled, but felt his heart lifting at the words.

Noh-Varr stood at the core of it all, and heard nothing. He was on trial alright, but not with the superhumans and mutants, all of them heroes, that surrounded him.

He was on trial before his own conscience, logic and ideals. And he’d been found guilty of a fanaticism unacceptable to his purpose. He no longer had the right to allege himself to be a Kree and he’d disrespected the morality of his new home. And that was the fatal mistake. Being different from humans was no crime, it made him unique and gifted and just about another million things, but it didn’t make him their supremator. 

And that was the consequence he’d learned too slowly of. He couldn’t shape the Earth without destroying humanity. They thrived on their own misery, made beauty out of their shortcomings and grew stronger. The infection, as he’d viewed their self-destructive tendencies, was their foe. They’d removed all other danger, but they were not complete in their evolution. In fact, Noh-Varr was doubting that that stage should be strived for goal. His own people suffered stagnation and although their logic and intellect was flawless, there was no creativity, no poignant beauty in their universal peace. A unified purpose and mind did not call for the raw insanity and genius necessary for leaps to a better future.

All of this was churning through his mind and he heard nothing of the discussion, staring at the ground, only looking up once Eli made clear he had enough of the back and forth.

Captain America’s stare remained on Eli, then scanned over the other members of his team. Behind and at his side, the Avengers detonated in discussion, pointing out flaws in Eli’s proposal, insisting that the Kree serve a greater punishment.

“Enough,” Captain America said, much softer than Eli had said the word. It silenced the room all the same.

Tommy puffed out his chest, defiance riddling him to sit up straight as Cap approached him without preamble.

“Thomas Shepherd,” Cap said. “I read your file again recently.”

Tommy’s jaw clenched. Nothing could come when someone scanned his files.

“I do not believe your punishment fit your crimes,” he said, and Tommy never saw him look sad until now. “The system is flawed, yes, and it may take a long time until holes are covered, justice better served. It’s not easy, but there are those who won’t stop to make it happen.”

Tommy remained still, stunned to silence for once. He wasn’t sure where the Cap was leading.

A smile graced the man’s face and he faced Noh-Varr now, who had essentially been a shadow during the entire proceeding.

“Noh-Varr,” he said, waiting until the Kree met his eyes. “You will work off your misdeeds. However, you aided the Earth when you could have fled with the one you love. For that, we owe you thanks. As thanks and because I do believe this would better widen your horizons, I will enlist you in a program that should accomplish those.”

He held up a finger. “But this also your way of redeeming yourself. I don’t want to call it a punishment. I want you to be active, learning, understanding why your methods will not change humanity. There will be strict guidelines. You will be expected to report at certain hours, be monitored to ensure no escape or further harm to Earth, and, with time, as you prove yourself, we will lift some of these conditions.

“And,” he lowered his hand, “I will allow Tommy’s current state, the uselessness of his legs, serve as his own redeeming for having aided in your escape and enabling some of your behavior. I think he’s been suffering long enough.”

With no fear, he clasped the Kree’s shoulder. “As have you. It’s time to be productive with your anger, Noh-Varr, and while humans have hurt you, there are countless others that are able to help you, get you to understand these emotions you must have not felt before.”

The Kree stared at the Captain, lacking trust in his words and gratitude at the offer. Right now, all he saw was a more creative prison and none of the speech answered the most important of his questions. One he had not voiced, but had circled his mind the entire time.

“Will I be allowed to be with Tommy?”

Because really, despite of the fact that they seemed an explosive combination, there was nothing he could do without the speedster he’d given his heart and soul to.

“I am willing to reconsider what I have done, but I cannot be away from him anymore. I will accept your...program, if only I may remain by his side.” 

“I thought as much,” Captain America said, glancing at the speedster, who remained bolted down by his teammates’ comfort alone. And a few hands on his arms. “But...yes.”

“What!” Iron Man laughed and threw his hands toward their direction. “Oh, come one, Steve, don’t tell me you’re getting that soft that--”

“All Noh-Varr really wanted was to give Tommy a safe home, even if his anger got in the way,” Cap said, his smile brimming with confidence now. “Yes, Noh-Varr, I think you two should live together. I think it would do you good to come home after working at the program to someone who can ground you. However, and I know I’m adding more ‘howevers’ than you’d like, I think it wouldn’t be much to ask that you both, ah...consider speaking to someone who can smooth over any troubles.”

“I’m not seeing some fucking shrink,” Tommy said, then grunted when Kate nudged his head hard.

“It’s not someone who is going to be probing like a psychiatrist,” Cap said, but he was talking to Noh-Varr. “You both are young, even by Kree standards for you. You think you have all the answers, but it doesn’t work that way. If you two want this to work out, you need to learn how to handle the problems you’ll encounter, emotionally. It shouldn’t be so daunting if you’re doing it together. Isn’t that fair enough, Noh-Varr?”

“Acceptable. As long as no one has the bright idea to part us again,” Noh-Varr took a testing step forward, and Steve got out of his way. The entire room watched him walk over to Tommy, watched him kneel by the wheelchair and bow his head, brow pressed to the speedster’s hand before the Kree actually smiled, bright...hopeful and utterly, stupidly devoted.

“Homeworld of my heart, I will do anything to redeem myself and deserve you.” 

Where Tommy had been tense and nerves and annoyed, he was easing up, relaxing as Noh-Varr stepped forward while most of the others got on edge. Then, the Kree was kneeling, and Tommy’s heart went all aflutter, images of how men propose filtering through his head. Noh-Varr even had the stupid, love-sick puppy look to go with it.

Tommy smiled though, fingers stroking the brow against his hand.

“Shut up and kiss me in front of all these losers.”

And Tommy kissed back.

*

“I think if you look any more presentable, you’ll have women’s ovaries exploding,” Tommy said.

He smirked at his own joke, adjusting the blazer draped over Noh’s button-down. It felt good being able to reach this height again. Granted, his running was not up to speed in the slightest, but Tommy was more than relieved he could handle walking around a couple of hours. Physical therapy was making him his bitch, but he didn’t dare risk letting Billy’s magic screw up his precious legs. Old school way it was.

A final brush of unwanted dust, and Tommy planted a solid kiss to his Kree, not caring they were feet outside the entrance of the edifice Noh-Varr would be doing his ‘community service’ in.

“I’ll keep you company as long as I can before I have to meet Kate’s counselor therapist quack,” he said, stealing one more kiss before threading their hands and guiding the Kree inside.

An older woman, still looking hot for her age though if Tommy had anything to say about it, greeted them with a firm shake and her name: Marissa.

“Ah, you must be Noh-Varr,” she said. “Don’t worry about a thing. We have the best prognosis for mutants and non-mutants alike, and I think you’ll be a great addition.”

She gestured for them to follow, Tommy squeezing Noh-Varr’s hand as they travelled past the lobby and through a few corridors where people tucked into offices looked as busy as hell.

“Okay,” she said, leading them into a grand office with a view of the city thanks to massive windows. “This is where we’ll be doing preliminary stuff, Noh-Varr. Getting you prepped to go out.”

“Go out?” Tommy asked.

“Well, of course. Our program is orientated through prevention. It’s the best way to avoid making small time naughty boys into hardened criminals, you know.” Marissa slapped down a bunch of files on her desk. “We have a variety of branches though. Today, Noh-Varr, I’m going to show you some reports on kids, half of them mutants, at an inner-city school. They’ve just enrolled in our program that focuses on keeping them busy after they get out, which is a high time they would otherwise join gangs, do that kind of stuff.”

Tommy couldn’t help peek into the files meant for Noh-Varr.

Marissa paused to drag her eyes over Noh-Varr. “You look tough. You got a great body. I think the kids will really look up to you and appreciate playing sports with you.” She grinned. “Don’t worry about that either. The kids will love to teach you how to play some of the games. Other days we’ll be mostly in here, planning events, charities, things like that. I think today you’ll do great on the field. What do you say, Noh-Varr? You ready to see just how inspiring a bunch of poorly labeled misfits, this world’s future, can be?”

Noh followed her with reserved enthusiasm, that translated into a stoic expression of a complete lack of interest, but he was, in fact, curious to hear what the hell Earth would have him do.

It sounded like he was to take some sort of teaching function amongst those at risk of becoming criminals through, which was a position that both intrigued and repelled him.

“So what exactly do I do? Because I am really not...good with children.”

Actually, he was terrible at communication with anyone who didn’t function on his particular level of logic.

“Interesting thing about kids, Noh-Varr,” Marissa said, “is that they don’t give a damn for the most part what you are and they’ll always think they’re smarter than you.”

With that, she flopped into her seat and dragged a chair for Noh-Varr to sit in.

Tommy smirked, already imagining the Kree tackled by eager children, and decided it would do him well. After all, kids said the wisest things about humanity more than anyone else. It was a shame he couldn’t linger, so he turned Noh-Varr’s face to kiss him softly.

“Don’t overthink,” he said. “She’s helped prevent a lot of bad guys, Noh, so you listen to her, you hear? She’s your boss now. And have fun. Think of it as practice for us when we get a dog,” he added around a laugh, especially when Marissa scowled, playfully, his way.

Tommy delivered a final squeeze, promising he’d be at their old apartment when Noh-Varr got home, with a meal cooked. There was no class for the speedster to catch up on until next week, first having to break ground with the guy Kate swore by and checking up on Marie from a distance (who had a new lease on life). 

Well, it was only for a few weeks of this therapy and counseling crap. If Noh-Varr could do this, he could suck up some mental therapy with the physical parts, especially if it meant Tommy could reclaim his title as Speed.

After all, he supposed, if he had to admit it, it wasn’t good carrying that stone around, not when Noh-Varr was free, when they were finally able to work on building that house. They’d fight, no doubt, and butt heads. Tommy didn’t mind that part, so long as at night they brushed those stupid arguments away and held each other until they fell asleep.

But to do that meant cleaning out the old, raw bits of themselves. Who would have thought so much repression could lead up to an attempted Skrull invasion?

Oh, well.Teenagers made crazy mistakes like that, and Tommy didn’t mind making a few more in the future, not when he had his own hala to run home to.


End file.
